Owls and Musings II
by Zarathustra46
Summary: Sequel to Owls and Musings. Severus and Esme return to Hogwarts and start a family. Come along for the ride. Another Fluffy Snape, sort of. Recently re-betaed.
1. Chapter 1

Owls and Musings II

Chapter 1 – New Term

"Twins!" Minerva exclaimed excitedly as she escorted the Professors Snape up the front steps of Hogwarts after their return from their week-long honeymoon in Nice.

Esme smiled at her aunt, and Severus snorted as he _locomotored_ their trunks through the front doors.

"How did you find out?" he asked his new aunt-in-law. "Did Poppy tell you?" He was going to have a word with her about patient confidentiality if she had.

"No," Minerva soothed, "it was Wizby. She was helping me get your new rooms ready. She took one look at the nursery and promptly told me it needed another cot and to expand it for more play-room."

"How in Merlin's name did Wizby…" Esme shook her head in disbelief; elf magic had struck again. Minerva chuckled quietly at the look on her niece's face.

She led them up the grand staircase to the second floor corridor where the married teachers' quarters were located. It had been years – practically the entire century - since there had been need of family quarters within the castle. Wizby had been in her element while her beloved Essie and Professor, Sir had been gone; getting everything moved over from their two separate quarters into the new one and making sure everything was perfect.

McGonagall showed them the dark, carved oak door that now sported an engraved brass knocker with 'Professors Snape' embossed on it. A portrait of a Victorian gentleman in Slytherin colours was positioned nearby.

"This is Gustav Pierpont, he will operate your door. Severus, if you would set the password…" the headmistress indicated with a wave of her hand.

Severus thought for a moment then said, "_Amor vincit omnia_."1

Esme blushed as Gustav unlocked the door and said, "Welcome home!"

Esme was in awe as she gazed at the rooms. The door had opened up to a large sitting room that included an alcove eating area from which a door immediately lead to an office/library area and a hallway led off the opposite wall to the bedrooms and baths.

Severus moved the trunks down the hall to the master bedroom and then made his apologies to the ladies, as he needed to see to his office in the dungeons. Besides, he could fairly smell a gossip session, and he did not want to stick around for it. He kissed his wife as he headed out the door.

"Ladies, I'll be back to escort you to the feast this evening." As he closed the door, making sure the cat did not escape, he could hear them chuckling. His mouth quirked up - it was good to be back.

Minerva conjured a tea tray, and she and her niece settled down in front of the fireplace.

"So," she continued, "twins?"

Esme sighed. "Yes, Auntie, twins. Poppy confirmed it right before we left."

McGonagall grinned. "And what was Severus' reaction?" she asked as she poured out for the two of them.

"Aye, he was stunned. But it's really not unexpected considering it's our first pregnancy at our age." Esmerelda accepted the cup of tea from her aunt and snatched a couple of biscuits from the serving plate.

"Severus, a father of twins!" Minerva laughed. "'Tis a great cosmic joke!"

Esme joined in the laughter. "It is, isn't it? Funny enough, he is looking forward to it – now - although he was scared to death at first. I still don't think he has fully embraced the concept of two at once yet." She shrugged her shoulders a bit at the thought.

" Much less one! Well, he finally has the luxury of being able to settle down and have a family – and enjoy it without worrying," Minerva noted.

"Not all of Voldemort's supporters have been rounded up, Auntie. Which is why we are living here instead of in the village; it is much safer. But I can tell you right now; the Slytherin students are going to be in for a shock with Severus back in charge. He no longer has to cater to their pureblood fathers and you are going to find a much more even-handed dealing of the students from him." She grinned a decidedly evil grin before sipping at her raspberry tea.

McGonagall's mouth quirked upward at this as well. Yes, the young snakes would have a rude awakening in the morning.

"Oh, you better read this," she remembered, fishing out and handing the morning's _Daily Prophet_ to her niece. "I take it you did not take the _Prophet_ while in Nice?"

"No, we didn't. Should we have?" She reached for the paper.

"Take a look at a new column that popped up this week – page three." Minerva grimaced as she reflected upon the contents. "All I can say is the woman should be permanently banned from being a journalist. She doesn't even deserve the title."

Esme quickly turned to the page indicated and found what her aunt was talking about: Skeeter's Scouts.

_...and in other news, Severus Snape, Potions Master and former Death Eater, was seen this past week in Nice at the wizarding resort. Recently married last weekend, the newlyweds were seen enjoying the sights. His wife is the former Ministry employee, Esmerelda McGonagall Scott, niece of Professor Minerva McGonagall - current Headmistress of Hogwarts. Two years his junior, it appears they got married none too soon as it is reported that Madame Snape is expecting their first child in mid-February. Severus Snape recently was on trial pertaining to the death of the late Hogwarts Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, but was cleared due mainly to his actions during the final battle between Harry Potter - the Chosen One - and You-Know-Who according to sources in the Ministry._

_"He claims it was a __coupe de grace," said Ministry employee, Percy Weasley. "But after fighting with Potter in the final battle – no one was going to convict him, no matter what he has done in the past as a Death Eater. I heard there was a deal made for certain information." This reporter is still trying to verify this fact._

_Both Snapes will be returning to Hogwarts this year; Madame Snape is to continue in her position of Transfiguration Professor – a post she took over from her aunt last autumn in a bit of nepotistic hiring – and Head of Gryffindor House, and Professor Snape will resume his position as Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House._

_Another former teacher will be resuming his position of Defense Professor. Remus Lupin, recently married to Auror Nymphadora Tonks, will be returning to Hogwarts this autumn. His previous one-year tenure in this position was terminated amid a flurry of speculation four years ago over his status as a Werewolf. This still has yet to be confirmed._

"This is just shy of slanderous! How in Merlin's name does she get away with this?"

"Och, well – that's just it. It is correct – just the slant is a bit skewed. You should hear Potter on the subject of Rita Skeeter, or Hermione. She has quite a lot to say about the woman." Minerva huffed a bit before taking another sip of her tea.

"I know; we had several conversations last year. I wonder if Severus has seen this yet, or Remus…" Esme pondered.

"I'm sure we'll find out later. Now, let's take a tour of this space – I think you'll enjoy it. And you can tell me about your trip!" McGonagall rose and offered Esme a hand up from her seat.

Arm in arm the two women began a walk-through, leaving the paper discarded on the divan.

Severus finally arrived back in time to change robes and escort his family to the Great Hall. Esme read him the article as he changed. While incensed that Rita was on the loose again, he said he was not surprised they had been spotted, nor that Skeeter was returning to her brand of yellow journalism. He told her the best thing to do was ignore the woman. To prove the point he _Incendio-_ed the paper in the grate and took his wife into his arms to kiss her thoroughly. They returned to the parlour to gather up Minerva, and he led them both to their seats in the Great Hall and left to prepare for the first-years' arrival as part of his new duties.

Several of the older Slytherin students who had not been part of the war the previous term threw "Congratulations, Professor!" in his direction as he made his way against the tide of incoming students. He acknowledged the felicitations with curt nods, continuing onward. He was looking forward to making his House aware of the new attitude he was bringing to his Head of House duties as well as teaching. His lips curled up to one side at the thought as he made it to the stairs leading down to the inner boat landing with time to spare.

As the first years trickled in, they saw the famous Professor Snape in his usual haughty façade. He smiled inwardly as he saw several of the students gulp reflexively when they stared up at him. He truly cut a menacing figure in his black frock coat covered by the equally black teachers robes lined in dark green silk, with his arms crossed over his chest as he silently glared down his nose. _Yes,_ he thought,_ it really is good to be back!_

Esme watched as the returning students filtered in through the doors heading for their respective tables. The turnout was larger this year, now that the school was relatively safe again.

The seventh and sixth year Gryffindors were waving enthusiastically at the teacher next to her. Remus Lupin was returning as the DADA teacher, as reported in the Prophet. Newly married as well, he returned the waves and ignored the mumblings from the Slytherin table. His wife, the same Tonks who had escorted Esme to Minerva's bedside at St Mungo's two years previously, was also waving at several students she knew. She had already thrown a "Wotcher, Esme!" at Esmerelda when they had taken their seats. Esme really did not know the young woman all that well, but Remus obviously adored her and Esme remembered her fresh enthusiasm for life from the few Order meetings she had attended.

Esme concentrated on a group of Gryffindors clustered together. They were admiring a ring on Ginny Weasley's hand. Minerva had told her that afternoon that Harry had proposed this summer, once he determined it was safe to court her again. The wedding was set for the end of the following summer. She quickly caught Ginny's eye, and Ginny came up to the head table to show her and Tonks the beautiful diamond. As they were admiring each other's new rings, Esme noticed Hagrid entering from the teachers' entrance and realising it was nearly time for the sorting, shooed Ginny back to the table to take her seat.

As soon as the last stragglers were seated, the great doors opened to reveal Snape leading in the first years towards the Sorting Hat, his robes billowing behind him. When he reached the stool, he caught his wife's eye giving her a wink (causing several teachers to reach for their goblets to hide their guffaws and setting Hagrid to chortling; Madame Hooch kicked him under the table to shut him up), and setting his patented smirk on his face, turned back to face the assembled first years.

With a quick indication of his hand to the stool and hat by his side he said, "This venerable object in front of you, as some of you with older siblings may know," here some of the new students nodded their heads, " is Godric Gryffindor's hat – commonly known as the Sorting Hat. It has been be-spelled to determine which House you best belong in for the next seven years of magical tuition.

"After the hat imparts to you its yearly bit of wisdom, I shall call your name and you will come forth to sit on the stool and place the hat upon your head."

He turned his full attention to the hat as the rip in its brim opened wide and began to sing.

_Oh, I am a hat of a thousand years_

_So many have put me on_

_To see where I will put them,_

_Among what peers, so strong?_

Esme watched as the first years listened raptly to the hat, taking in its descriptions of the four houses and their salient traits. She could remember her sorting like it was yesterday. She rested a hand on her belly realising that in twelve years it would be her children in that line.

Severus began calling names after the hat ended its prose, and the children came forward one by one to place the enormous bit of brown felt over their heads and have it determine their Houses.

After the last child was sorted, Severus flicked his wand to whisk the hat back to the Head's office and the stool back to storage, then briskly walked up to the staff table to take his place next to his wife capturing her hand under the table.

"Good sorting!" she murmured to him, while McGonagall gave out start-of-term notices and began the feast. He gave her a quick smile and snagged some chicken from a passing platter for each of them and looked over at Lupin.

"Lupin, I see you are attempting Defence again. Wasn't once enough?" he asked snidely.

"Well, we shall see. McGonagall seems to think the jinx will be lifted now that the jinxer is dead – for good this time," Remus parried back.

Severus smirked in acknowledgement of the jibe. "Who is taking your sick days? I'm afraid I'll be too busy this year," he stated, taking a sip from his goblet.

"I'm married to an Auror now, Severus; Tonks will be taking those days," Lupin said mildly, but pointedly.

"I'll remember to avoid that corridor on those days," Severus sneered.

Esme listened as the two bantered back and forth over her head. She was beginning to feel like a Quaffle in a heated Quidditch game. Tonks was staring at the men with a bemused look on her face. Finally, Esme put a hand on each of their arms below the edge of the table and forcibly whispered, "Gentlemen, I am trying to eat. Can we keep the verbal riposte down to a dull roar, please? Remus - I, for one, am glad to see a competent teacher back in that position. Severus, you were offered a choice, if I remember correctly, and you chose to return to potions. _Now sheath it!"_ she hissed through her smiling teeth. She gave each of their arms a sharp squeeze and released them to continue eating her dinner.

Both men subsided, although a hint of red suffused each of their faces, and murmured apologies to the stern Gryffindor who sat between them. She snorted once and resumed her dinner. Tonks looked at her with glowing admiration.

They continued eating for a while in silence before Severus tried conversation again – this time with his wife.

"Did your visit go well, this afternoon?" he ventured.

"Aye, quite well." She was perfectly willing to talk to him as long as he behaved civilly. "Wizby will be staying with us now and will act as nanny after the children arrive and I resume teaching."

He nodded acceptance of this bit of news. He wasn't fond of the creatures in general, but with both of them working it was logical to have one permanently assigned to them. He also had to admit that Wizby had been very loyal to them over the years and had kept their secrets to herself.

"Do you need to visit the common room tonight?" she asked him.

"No, tomorrow will be soon enough for them to be aware of the changes I will be instituting." He smirked as he began to eat his chocolate gateau.

Soon enough Minerva stood to dismiss the students to their dorms, and the teachers started rising to leave as well. The Snapes found themselves walking with the Lupins to the second floor corridor. Esme had not had much interaction with Tonks during the war. They had met at meetings, and she had seen Tonks around the school and Hogsmeade the previous year in her Auror capacities, but they had never really sat down for a gab session.

Esme found Tonks to be a delightful – if exhausting – addition. As they walked together, Severus and Remus discussed the schedule for Remus' Wolfsbane potion and Esme listened as the flamboyant witch waxed enthusiastically about Esme's pregnancy, about her own recent wedding, helping Remus with his classes; about everything! It was a bit of a relief when the couples reached their corridor.

They politely said good evening to the Lupins and quickly stepped in after giving Gustav the password.

"She's a lot to take at once, isn't she?" she asked her husband as she sat down in front of the fire. There was a bit of a nip in the air that evening.

Severus brought over her evening potion that Poppy insisted she drink every night. "She'll calm down somewhat as she gets to know you," he predicted.

"What was that snarkiness with Remus about?" she finally asked, taking long sips of the nutritive potion.

He rubbed his hands over his face in weariness as he sat down in his wingback. "No excuse. Old habits die hard, I guess," he said sounding resigned.

"Well, please try to curb them in the future. I thought you two had reached a détente during the war? He was your go-between for information to the Order last year," she reminded him.

"We have reached an understanding. Can we drop the subject, please?" he snapped.

She pursed her lips and kept further criticisms to herself. Instead she sipped her draught and then went to sit on her husband's lap, snuggling into his embrace. He sighed as he put his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, Esme. Really. Sometimes I still fall into that old role. It's hard to realise I can be myself all the time. I think the problem is I played so many parts according to where I was and whom I was with; it's going to take me a while to let my true personality be in the forefront all the time. Sometimes I'm not truly sure who _is_ the true one."

She snuggled closer as she gave him a gentle kiss.

"The true one is the one who is here, right now. The one I fell in love with and married. I think as teachers we all have a 'teacher mode' we fall into, but there is the 'at home mode' as well and that is fine. You just need to realise that the old 'Death Eater' persona can be retired."

"I know that," he acknowledged. "It's just going to take a while to internalise. I played that part for so many years." He buried his face against her collarbone and breathed in her vanilla and cinnamon scent. It always ensnared and aroused him, and this time was no different. She raised her lips to his and snuck her arms around his neck as she accepted his apology.

* * *

The next night, after dinner, Severus headed to the Slytherin Common Room. He had already posted a notice on the board stating that there would be a House meeting that evening and woe betide any snake that was not present. Tonight he would be laying down the new rules.

As he recited the master password that gained him entrance through the two sets of doors that led eventually to the Slytherin common room, he reflected on the necessity for this meeting. He had to reinforce his control over the House and remind them who held the power.

When he reached the middle of the common room floor at precisely eight o'clock, he found the House gathered in a layered semi-circle facing the entrance. He stared down his long crooked nose at them, noting the group of ten first years near the front. He looked at each row in turn, noting who was missing among the older students. Some from dying in battle the previous year, some from having been removed by their parents and either shipped off to one of the other schools or tutored at home. He knew intimately why each student was missing. He sighed inwardly as he noticed that the reduction was most evident in the sixth and seventh years – mostly due to death.

"For those of you who do not know me," he spared a look for the first and second years, "I am Professor Severus Snape, your Head of House and Deputy Headmaster. I was absent last year due to my need to spy deep within the inner circle of the Dark Lord. But as the war is over and the Dark Lord is vanquished for good, I am back!" he snapped out. At this point he crossed his arms in front of him and gazed over the entire assembled House. "I expect you have heard several rumours already, and I am here to lay them to rest. I was a Death Eater fresh out of school here, and I saw the error of my ways all too soon. I turned to the late headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, and he helped me turn into a spy for the Order of the Phoenix. Yes, I killed him and as that has been covered in the papers I will not reiterate the reasoning behind it during this meeting.

"What you are to be concerned with is this," he skewered the older students with a black calculated look, "I will no longer be favouring this House over any other when it comes to points taken or received. It no longer matters that I do so and it will stop now." He paused so that the gasps and grumbles from the older snakes could die down. "From now on, Slytherin will learn to fly on its own merit – so if you want to show the rest of the school that Slytherin is the best House, I advise you to expect to do it by pure hard work – like any other House in this school. I will no longer turn a blind eye to the shenanigans that have been pulled in the past. If I catch any of you breaking a single school rule, I will take points and give out detentions just as I would to any other House. Is this all understood? Any questions?" The entire group only shook their heads in disbelief.

"Good," he purred in his silkiest voice. "I expect we shall have a most pleasant year, then. Good evening, Gentlemen and Ladies." With that he turned and returned the way he came, robes billowing with his stride.

* * *

1. Love conquers all


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – New Life

"Ah, how cute!"

"So soft."

"They're darling!"

"C'mon, open up the next one!" Tonks urged, bouncing in her excitement. Her hair today was streaked pink and blue in honour of the twins.

Esme, ensconced on the sofa in her parlour, reached for the next present being passed to her by her friend. She felt like a beached whale and had surpassed looking like one at Christmas.

Today, at the end of January, the women of the castle were holding a _clúdaithe le bronntanais_ for her. This was a time-honoured ritual where close friends gathered together with the expectant parents and with food and gifts, showing the new parents that they were now joining a larger community. This was normally given only for the first pregnancy. The Muggle world had caught on and had transformed it into the modern day Baby Shower. Over the years, the fathers had been politely excluded from the proceedings (they never wanted to attend in any case) and the ritual had become a women only affair. The women had swooped down on the Snape quarters, and while McGonagall had transfigured the front room into party central, the others had politely but firmly hustled Severus out the door.

Now piles of gifts for the twins surrounded her.

"Oh, how cute!" resounded through the room again in a universal exclamation as she unwrapped two matching quilts. She thanked Tonks and laid them next to her as she reached for the next gift.

* * *

Severus pulled out his watch and, unlocking the cover, checked the time: half past three. An hour and a half to go before he could go back to their rooms. Before closing the cover he glanced, as he always did, at the inscription etched inside, '_Always entwined, never apart. ES & SS._' It was the same one Albus had magically inscribed on the engagement ring all those years ago.

Esme had taken the watch to a jeweller in Diagon Alley after finding it at the cottage and had commissioned him to inscribe the sentiment inside a circle of knotwork. Severus never left their rooms without it.

He snapped it shut, placed it back into his waist pocket and drew his cloak more tightly around himself while casting a warming charm on it again as he strode along the slushy streets of Hogsmeade. He had decided, after being so precipitously removed from his quarters, to come down and purchase some supplies for the classroom stores. The proprietor of the village apothecary had taken his list and told him to come back in an hour.

With an hour to kill, he had decided to go warm up at the Hog's Head with some mulled wine while he waited. He would be left alone there, the clientele tending toward the solitary types.

As he entered, another patron entered behind him.

"Severus," came the quiet voice behind him.

He peered at the other man in the gloomy tavern light; he frowned.

"Lupin," he grudgingly acknowledged.

They walked up to the seats at the bar and placed their orders with the barman.

"I'm surprised to see you here," Remus said as he opened his butterbeer.

Snape growled, "I was kicked out of my rooms."

"Oh?" Lupin said. Then his eyes opened fully. "Oh! Do I need to go purchase a box of cigars?"

"No, it's not that – we still have three weeks. No, it's worse." He ground the words out as he stared into his steaming cup. "A _c__lúdaithe le bronntanais_."

Remus chuckled. "Well, that explains a lot that has been going on this week."

"Those women," Snape continued indignantly, "kicked me out as they were covering everything in blue and…" he shuddered in absolute revulsion, "pink."

Remus looked sympathetic and took another pull on his bottle. "I'm afraid this will become a normal phenomenon, Severus. With the end of the war, babies are going to be blossoming everywhere. Molly tells me Bill and Percy's wives are both expecting in the summer."

Snape just grunted into his cup. Just what he needed to know - another generation of Weasleys would be invading Hogwarts in twelve years time.

Remus continued, "Even Tonks is starting to talk about little ones. Really, Severus, you two are at the vanguard of a wizarding population explosion. And twins at that! You give us newlyweds a lot to live up to."

Severus looked over at his drinking companion. "You're joking about you and Tonks, right?"

Lupin shook his head.

"Won't they be werewolves as well?" All Snape could see were werewolf puppies across the hall.

"No, only if Nymphadora were a werewolf herself. Actually, we were thinking of adopting. There are so many war orphans now." He shook his head in contemplation of this last statement.

Snape grunted again and sipped his wine. They were silent for a while longer enjoying the quiet atmosphere of the deserted pub.

"What are you doing here? You don't normally drink here," Snape finally enquired of Lupin.

"Local pack meeting," Lupin explained, then looked over at the dark man next to him. "I have some news that might be of interest to you," he offered.

"Whatever would I be interested in werewolves for?" Snape scoffed.

"Draco," Remus said softly.

Snape became rigid, then looked around the empty pub with hooded eyes. Only Aberforth was nearby. Snape cocked his head toward an empty table, far from the bar. Remus snagged his bottle and followed.

When they were seated, Snape looked at the other man and said in a low, steely voice, "All right, Lupin, you have my attention."

Remus took a long pull on his beer to settle himself and then set the bottle down while avoiding Snape's eyes, which he could feel drilling into him.

"Apparently," he drawled out, "after Draco was bitten last winter, he vowed revenge on Greyback. You'll remember Greyback originally scratched him two years ago as a means to ensure his cooperation in the task he was given to kill Dumbledore. Greyback then bit him after he was found hiding with his mother. He made a vow at that time that he would refuse to take the potion until he killed Fenrir." He took another swallow, as Snape nodded his acknowledgement. He already knew this from the previous winter. "Well, he has accomplished his goal but died in the process." He looked up in time to see the pain his news caused flutter across the other teacher's face before he regained control.

"I see," was all Snape said.

Lupin's hand twitched as if he wanted to reach out in sympathy, but he thought better of it. Snape would not appreciate that type of emotion from him.

"I'm truly sorry, Severus. I thought you ought to know," was what he did offer.

Snape nodded and downed the last of his wine, making a face as he did so; it had gone cold. "I appreciate you letting me know, Lupin," he finally said, checking his watch again. "I need to get going – I have an order to pick up." He stood up to leave, then turned toward the werewolf saying, "I'll have your potion ready at seven tonight."

"Of course," Remus acknowledged. "Thank you, Severus," he added a bit sadly, but the Potions Master was already gone in his customary swirl of robes.

* * *

Snape walked down the second floor corridor towards his front door. Gustav looked weary as he unlocked the door.

"You'd think I was a bloody common room portrait with all this coming and going today," he mumbled.

Severus ignored him as he pushed the door open. Minerva and Tonks were seated in the parlour taking tea from what looked like leftover party food. The decorations were gone for which he was grateful.

Tonks waved from where she sat. "Wotcher, Snape – have a fairy cake?" She was flourishing one of the treats in her other hand.

Minerva looked up as he closed the door. "Good timing, Severus. We just finished clearing up. Tea?" she offered.

"In a moment. Where's Esmerelda?"

"Having a bit of a lie down. Don't worry," she added at the look of concern on his face, "she's fine; just worn out. Go back and see her if you don't believe me." She waved her arm in the vague direction of the hallway.

He tossed her a look as he laid his cloak over the back of a chair and let his long legs carry him down the hallway. He snuck a peek in the nursery finding it full of baby gifts, but kept going to the master suite across the hall; he couldn't deal with all the piles of pink and blue gifts just yet. Gently opening the door, he entered.

A fire in the brazier sent a soft glow over the sleeping woman in the bed. He absently noticed the snow that had begun to fall again outside the French doors leading to their private balcony.

His wife was lying on her side; her thick plait lay on top of the covers. Those same blankets covered the large mound of her belly, and he could barely discern movement as limbs were shifting in her womb. He placed an awed hand on the swelling and sent a calming thought to the babies._ Hush now, your mother needs her rest. You'll be with us soon enough._

Slowly the babies quieted down, and he received an impression of contentment from them. He and Esme had spent many a quiet afternoon and evening this autumn touching the burgeoning consciousness of the twins, and they responded well to his mind's suggestions. He leaned over placing a light kiss on his wife's cheek, pulled the duvet further up and around her shoulders and brushed some stray hairs from her face. He eased himself out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

When he made his way back to the front room, McGonagall handed him a plate of biscuits and a cup of tea. Tonks had left while he had checked on Esmerelda. Severus sat down in his favourite wingback, setting the plate and saucer on the reading lamp tray.

"I take it the party went well?" he enquired.

"Aye," she said, sitting back down on the divan and taking up her teacup. "I believe you two are set for the first few weeks," she teased.

He looked astonished. "Weeks?"

"I'm joking, Severus," she assured him. She looked at him though, with a hint of a grin as she realised something. "You've never been around newborns, have you?"

He shook his head.

"Well, they grow. A lot. This of course means new togs every few months until their growth rate settles down." She chuckled at sheer terror in his face.

He was beginning to understand why Arthur and Molly were just now able to afford new things.

"Now, if I know your wife," Minerva continued, "she'll be finding other mothers to trade around with. It is a time-honoured and thrifty tradition." She settled back into the divan cushions smiling at her nephew-in-law over the rim of her cup. His face was beginning to look poleaxed.

"Cheer up, Severus. Concentrate on how happy those babes will make you feel when they are finally here and in your arms."

"I'm starting to panic, Minerva," he said very low.

"Whatever for?" She looked over at him with concern.

"What do I know about raising children? Teenagers I can handle, but little ones?" He gave his head a shake in incredulity at the magnitude of the responsibilities that were looming ahead of him.

"You learn by doing, dear boy. And by talking to other parents you admire. Trial and error, Severus, that's how the rest of us do it." He had forgotten she had finished raising his wife after her parents had passed on.

"My past has a lot of errors," he said quietly, remembering the abuse he had received in his parents' house – he would never deign to call it a home - as well as that which he had been forced to dealt out as a Death Eater.

Minerva pursed her lips. She had gone to school with Eileen Prince and had known Tobias Snape. They had married in the late forties. Eileen had managed to keep her powers a secret from Toby for several years, but he had eventually sussed it out and hadn't been pleased. Severus had come along nearly ten years into the marriage, definitely not planned for and when he had exhibited magic early, Toby had snapped. Minerva had tried to help her friend, but Eileen had refused. She insisted she could deal with the situation. When Severus had arrived at school, his mother's old school books in hand, used robes on his back and a beaten-down look in his eyes, Minerva nearly cursed herself for not interfering with the family earlier. It was not a surprise at all when the hat had sorted him into his mother's House, Slytherin.

"As I said," she reiterated, "we learn. We do not have to repeat the mistakes of our parents," she said rather pointedly. He took the hint, nodding in acknowledgement. "That means to not go overboard the other way either and spoil them rotten!" she said smiling again. "That's my job as grandmother!" she quipped in a jovial manner. He smiled wryly at her in return.

She got up and headed towards the door, vanishing her cup and saucer in the process. "It's nearly time for dinner. Are you heading down?"

He shook his head, his dark lank hair swinging in front of his face. "No, I'm going to stay here. I need to brew Lupin's potion, and I want to be here when Esme wakes."

"I understand. Have a good evening then. And Severus?" He looked up at her. "Don't worry, you'll do just fine."

He nodded as she turned and left, Gustav's muttering filtering through the door.

* * *

"Severus."

"Hmmm"

"It's time."

"Huh? No, it's not. It's three in the morning…"

"Not that, dear. The babies… get P-P-P-Poppy!" She groaned, her fingers clenching his shoulder. "Now!"

"Now!" He was instantly awake and running to the Floo throwing in a handful of powder. "Pomfrey!" he yelled. He heard a faint mumbling through the flames, then more clearly:

"What's that? Who's calling? Severus, is it time?"

"Yes. She says now."

"Be right there!" A moment later Snape handed Pomfrey out of the fire. She immediately headed over to the bed, wand out and diagnostic spells flying. She finally looked up at the hovering father-to-be. "Are you staying or leaving?"

He glanced at his wife – it was her call to make.

"Please stay," she pleaded, another grimace of pain screwing up her face.

That decided him. "I'm staying."

"Good man!" Poppy said, nodding in approval. She promptly put him to work.

In the end, twelve long pain and scream filled hours later, he sat behind Esme supporting her as she pushed and had the joy of cutting both cords with his wand as first his son and then his daughter entered the world screaming. He cradled his wife as she held the babies, and they both exclaimed at how beautiful they were.

Eventually, Poppy placed both infants in his arms and shooed him out so that she and Wizby could clean and Esme could get some rest.

In the parlour awaited the headmistress and the Lupins.

"May I introduce you to Emrys McGonagall Snape and Brigida Scott Snape," he announced as he entered the room, beaming from ear to ear.

The three adults stood up and came over to admire the new generation. Minerva helped by taking Brigida, and Remus pulled out a camera.

"Colin Creevey asked me to take some photos," he explained. "He has also offered to take some formal sittings later as a gift to the family."

Severus was in a magnanimous mood. He gave Emrys into Minerva's other arm as she sat on the sofa so that there would be one of her with both babes. Several more shots were taken before Severus called a halt and took the children back to the bedroom and placed them in the double-sized bassinet next to Esme's side of the bed.

He made sure that they were wrapped well and gently placing a finger on both of their foreheads, projected a welcome to them. He then bent down and kissed each of their heads before turning his attention to their mother. He saw that she was already asleep and tucked her more firmly in as well after bestowing a kiss on her forehead. He noted Wizby was quietly sitting nearby keeping an eye on everything until Severus came to bed. He nodded his satisfaction to her and returned to the parlour.

When he reached there, Remus handed him a glass of celebratory wine. Severus accepted and went to sit in his chair by the fire. He looked over at the werewolf sitting across from him, while Tonks and Minerva chatted on the sofa.

"Lupin, I have something to ask of you and Nymphadora."

"Of course, Severus."

Snape took his time before continuing to gather his thoughts.

"Let me preface this request by saying that there are not a lot of people in the Wizarding world that Esmerelda and I would trust with this. There are even fewer in the Muggle world, but they would not be able to handle the magical aspects; and of those few in the Wizarding world, you and Tonks are the only ones we truly count as friends and contemporaries." He paused to take a sip of his wine while Remus patiently kept silent waiting for Severus to continue. Neither noticed that the ladies had stopped talking and were listening in.

"Esme is teaching me that life is too short not to take that which is freely offered," Severus finally said, looking up at the werewolf. "I want to ask that you and Nymphadora become godparents to our children."

He rose gracefully and slowly held his hand out to Remus.

Remus barely took a second to decide and clasped Severus' hand as he, too, rose from his seat. "We would be honoured, Severus. If anything, God forefend, should happen to you both – we will take care of them as if they were our own."

"Thank you, Remus," he said sincerely.

A sniff came from the sofa. McGonagall quickly took out her lace hanky and dabbed her eyes dry. "Right," she said, "it's about time you two came around." Both men looked at each other and then at her with looks that clearly said 'Who, us?' She huffed at them and then stood up, smoothing out her robes. "Well, it is dinner time and this grandmother is starving. Remus, Tonks – if you will accompany me; Severus, I'll send up a tray for you and Esme."

"Thank you, Minerva."

The other three said their congratulations again as Snape showed them to the door and then sat back down again to finish his wine.

He began to reflect back through the years and marvelled that here he was, after all these years, married and the father of twins. He had never even expected this type of life when he had begun spying for the late headmaster. He hadn't even expected to survive this long! But yet, here he was and his new family awaited him in the bedroom. He quaffed the last of the wine and headed for the master bedroom.

After checking on the twins and making sure they were still tucked in securely, he dismissed the house-elf for the evening, shed his outer clothes and after relegating Casey - with much protesting from the cat - to the end of the bed, snuggled up to his wife.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – And Toddler Makes Five

After talking with his wife, Remus Lupin decided to beard the lion in his den. Esme was not going to be the problem – it was Snape, and Remus was still too new in his improved relations with the man to take anything for granted. But this was important. He and Tonks had been planning and working with the authorities for so many months; it was hard to believe that the day they had been longing for was this Saturday. They had been so elated at the news, and now he had to ask of Severus this one very important request. Really, there was no one else he would ask – not after all they had been through together. So, after classes were over for the day, he headed towards the dungeons where he knew Severus would be holding his afternoon office hours.

Opening the classroom door, Lupin's heightened sense of hearing picked up the clinking sounds of glass as Severus filed bottles away in his private store cupboard. He walked across the classroom and knocked gently on the doorpost of the storeroom to get the other teacher's attention.

"Severus, can I have a moment of your time?"

"If you don't mind me working while we talk? It's Esme's turn to sit at the High Table tonight so I have baby duty in half an hour," he explained.

"Not at all, this won't take long. Need any help?" he asked.

"No," was the curt reply, but Remus did not take it personally; this was standard Snape in working mode, so he stayed just within the doorway.

"Well, I'll come straight to the point. Tonks and I have been going through the process to adopt a baby boy from the orphanage in Diagon Alley."

Severus raised his eyebrows. "Congratulations, Lupin," he said, not unkindly.

"Thank you. We've been working on this since the fall when we visited the orphanage and first saw Roger. It was love at first sight, Severus. It has been so hard to get the paperwork through, what with my 'condition' and all, but with Arthur at the head of the Ministry now and with Minerva's and Harry's backing we got the final approval last night. The thing is we need two witnesses at the final signing on Saturday – of our choosing. We would be honoured if you and Esme would act as our witnesses. That is all you need to do," he hastened to point out.

Severus paused in his filing. "Are you sure about this?"

"Very sure. Dora and I both want this." Remus nodded.

Severus placed the last bottle in its assigned location and turned back to face Remus, hands crossed in front of him. "Well, I am sure I can speak for Esmerelda when I say we'd be honoured. What time do we need to be there?" Severus enquired.

Remus felt his whole demeanour relax; releasing tension he was unaware that he had been holding.

"I appreciate this, Severus. We need to be there at ten in the morning."

"We'll see you there." He nodded dismissively at the werewolf, and Remus let a small grin show on his face as he let himself out of the classroom.

* * *

The two couples Apparated to the steps in front of the Cornelius Fudge Wizarding Orphanage. Severus thought the name was apt considering the number of orphans that were created due to the man's refusal to acknowledge Voldemort's return to power until it was almost too late. When he had heard where they were going, he had done some quick research on the facility. A fairly new orphanage, it had been founded by a charity that Fudge had sent money to on a regular basis. One of the few good deeds he had done in his life. When he had been killed during the last days of the war, it had been discovered that he had left the bulk of his personal fortune to the institution; hence the name.

Tonks was beside herself in her excitement, and Remus had to keep a close watch on her to make sure no inadvertent disaster struck. Severus noted, however, that the man was nearly bouncing in excitement himself.

Severus and Esme had left the twins in the care of Wizby and Minerva who had been practically chomping at the bit for her first chance to baby-sit. Severus had not been too keen on the idea at first; this was the first time in five months that neither one of the parents had been within hailing distance of the twins. But he trusted Minerva, and Wizby had proven herself a fair hand at watching them when Severus and Esme had to be in classes at the same time, so he had reluctantly acquiesced to his wife's request that they leave the children at home.

The air was very mild for mid-June. Sounds of shoppers drifted on the air as well as tantalising smells from several eateries gearing up for the lunch crowds, which would soon be appearing. Children's voices also carried on the wind from the play yards attached to the Orphanage.

Remus led the group up the steps, held the door as the other three entered and then led them to the Matron's office.

A cheery secretary met them and let them into the inner sanctum of the Matron, showing them to a small conference table where the paperwork awaited them.

"Ms Dewitt will be with you shortly, she's just getting some things together for you to take with Roger. Would anyone like some tea?" Before anyone could answer yay or nay, she had conjured a tray with a steaming teapot, cups and a plate with an assortment of biscuits and wafted it over to the table.

"If you can just look over the paperwork and make sure all is in order please," she said to Remus and Tonks as they pushed their chairs closer together to peruse the legal parchments together.

The young woman turned to the Snapes. "You won't be needed for the signing until later, Professor; would you and Madam Snape like to take a tour of our facility? We are the finest wizarding orphanage in Britain," she said proudly. Severus motioned with his hand to lead on and offered his arm to his wife.

As they walked through the clean and cheery common areas, he listened as the young woman gave the standard tour spiel. He remembered her from several years ago. A Hufflepuff…what was her name…Morris? That wasn't right…Morse, that was it - Maura Morse.

"…we also have tutors who come in twice a week to teach the children their basics until they are old enough to attend Hogwarts."

"Tell me, Miss Morse," he enquired, "what the statistics are concerning the adoptability of older children."

"Unfortunately, sir, the older a child is the less likely they are to be adopted. From the time they are old enough to toddle around their 'cuteness' factor goes down. However, our children are able to go to Hogwarts when they turn eleven under the Merlin Scholarships."

"Can we see a playroom for the younger children?" Esme asked.

"Of course, follow me." She led them along the main hallway to a half-door that led to a room full of toddlers. About fifteen children were playing in small groups around the room. Colourful drawings could be seen tacked to the walls, and one wall had a mural showing a forest scene with several animals walking around in it. The ceiling above was charmed to show the weather outside, much as the Great Hall ceiling was at Hogwarts. A young woman was acting as the monitor for the room, and she was moving from group to group, helping children with their activities.

"Merlin, Severus, I never knew so many had lost their parents!" Esme whispered.

"I did…" he murmured. Just the sight of these children brought home how much evil Voldemort had propagated. These children should be with their parents, not living out their childhoods in an orphanage – no matter how well appointed and staffed.

He reached over to unlatch the door and let themselves into the room. He wandered around looking at the childish drawings proudly displayed on the walls, toys scattered around the floor, and the groups of children playing at various different games and activities.

While they had been fairly raucous before the adults had entered, the presence of the dark man gliding around the room like an overgrown bat subdued the children for a moment until they realised he wasn't there to threaten them.

Severus and Esme soon alighted on a sofa to watch the children for a few moments more until they were needed in the Matron's office again, and Maura headed over to talk with the young witch in charge of the room.

Esme watched as a little raven-tressed girl, no more than three years of age, slowly walked across the room towards them. The child's bright blue eyes were glued to her husband. She held a battered teddy bear by one tattered ear and had a thumb positioned in her mouth absently stroking her nose with her forefinger as she puzzled out this stranger. Finally coming to her own conclusion, she firmly marched over to Severus and without a by-your-leave clambered into his shocked lap and presented him with her bear to be kissed. Stunned, Severus looked to his wife for help, a pleading look in his eyes.

"What do I do?" he whispered in abject terror.

"Well, dear, you'd better kiss the bear!" she snickered.

He shot her a look of exasperation but gingerly took the proffered teddy and bestowed a quick kiss on top of its moist head before quickly handing it back to its owner. He resisted the urge to wipe his mouth; it would not do to offend the small creature. The toddler hugged the bear to her chest and, popping her thumb back into her mouth, curled up in Severus' lap, closed her eyes, and promptly fell fast asleep. Severus found himself curling one arm around her protectively while his other hand brushed lightly over her raven curls in a soothing motion.

He had cradled and fed the twins enough times over the last five months to know what a joy it was to sit with them, hugging them to his chest, comforting them when they cried. But this was different somehow. This child had chosen to come to him on her own volition. She wasn't afraid of him. He was finding himself smitten with the little creature. He looked over at Esme and found her smiling fondly at him and the child. She nodded her head slowly at the unspoken plea in his eyes and reached out her hand to cover his as it rested alongside the girl's face.

He closed his eyes in contentment and bestowed a feather light kiss on top of the toddler's head as he hugged her closer to his chest.

Too soon, the room monitor came over to gently take the child to her nap cot and Severus reluctantly let her go.

"Maura, who is that child?" he asked the secretary as they got up to leave.

"Her name is Alisha, Professor," she responded, a slight grin on her face. She knew what was coming – it always happened this way. The Lupins had been the same when they had seen little Roger in his playpen last autumn. They had picked him up to play a bit and were starting the paperwork for adoption three hours later.

"Maura," Esme cut in, "we would like to adopt her."

After they had been led back to the Matron's office to sign as witnesses to the Lupin's adoption of little Roger, they began their own process to adopt Alisha and add her to their rapidly growing family.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – On Avian Wings

Brigida Snape was having problems with her Latin. The eleven-year-old was propped up on her elbows in front of the Floo, her light blue primary school robes puddled around her on the floor. Her socked feet were animatedly waving in the air as she concentrated on the parchment in front of her, her book and dictionary spread out nearby as well. It was a wonderful afternoon in early June, and the windows were open to let in the light breeze. The wind teased at her curly hair that was the same colour as her mother's, and she absent-mindedly tucked some errant curls behind her ear. She bit her lip as she drew a scrap piece of parchment to work out a translation before committing it to her homework page. She did not even think it strange that here she was working on extra credit in Latin while her siblings and friends were out playing on the Quidditch pitch with the older students. The game held no interest for her, while being as ready as she could be for next September when she would be starting regular classes, did.

She didn't even hear her father come home until he reached out a hand and put a halt to her waving legs.

"Da!" she said, startled enough to jump slightly.

"Sorry, Bree. Where is everybody?"

"Rhys and Becca are out with the Lupin boys, and Mum is either in class or at her appointment with Madame Pomfrey. Are you sure it's a boy this time, Da?"

"Positive," he reassured her.

"Good. You know, Da, we need a clock like Mr Weasley's mum," she suggested.

"I have considered it, believe me," he sighed. He shifted the stack of exam papers in his arms. "If you need me, I'll be in the study –marking. What are _you _working on?" He peered curiously at the stack of books and parchment spread out on the sitting room rug.

"Extra credit for Latin." He nodded in understanding and, after giving her feet an affectionate tickle that made her giggle and kick her legs even harder, headed across the room to the doorway to his study. He had discovered many years earlier when the older kids had been little, that he preferred marking at home rather than in his dungeon office – much more comfortable, and he didn't feel as if he was missing out on what happened with them on a daily basis.

The students of Hogwarts during the eighties and nineties would have had a hard time reconciling the Severus Snape of then with the one of now. Twelve years of marriage and raising a family without the constant threat of Voldemort hanging over his head had wrought quite a change in the Potions Master. Gone was the angry young man consumed with guilt and bitterness, and constantly looking over his shoulder - wondering if today was the day his secrets would be revealed.

In his place was a somewhat mellower gentleman, finally at ease with himself, his position in society and his roles as father and husband. He was even known to crack a sarcastic joke in class – on very rare occasions.

The only people he did not let up on were his Slytherins. They were still in danger of joining the dark elements of wizarding society, and he worked constantly at beating back those forces from his dungeons. These days he won more than he lost, and sometimes, on rare occasions, the lost even made it back to the fold.

He still favoured his black frock coats and teaching robes when not relaxing with his family, and he still maintained a severe demeanour while around students. Some things just lent themselves to maintaining discipline; and discipline was paramount in the potions classroom for safety's sake. However, he no longer insulted and ridiculed students in class unless they absolutely deserved it for putting other students at risk, and his punishments were meted out fairly to all, for the most part. For Severus Snape that meant that he now took points from Slytherin and gave points to the other Houses.

He finished marking the papers and entering the results into his book. These would magically transfer to the headmistress's book for end-of-year results. He filed away the test papers. He had heard his other children enter the outer room, but as they were not making too much noise, he was not worried. As he closed the file drawer, he heard a small rap at the door.

"Come in, Brigida, I'm finished," he called out.

She never wondered about how he knew it was she; Da always knew which child was at his door. "Da, I'm having a problem with this last translation. It's not making any sense in English."

"Let me take a look," he said holding out his hand for her textbook with a scrap of parchment marking the troublesome passage. He sat back down in his chair, pulling up another for his daughter. After reading the paragraph he checked her notes on the scrap.

"Ah, I see your problem. Sometimes you need to go for the alternate meanings. Try this instead and see what happens." He wrote a word on the scrap and gave it back to her. She leaned over her work for a few more minutes and gave an excited cry.

"That's brilliant, Da! Take a look now." She handed the parchment back to her father, and he nodded his head.

"Well done. Professor Weasley will be proud of you." He tweaked her nose affectionately to make her smile and laugh. "I know I'm proud. Now, go put your things away, and we'll have a game of chess before dinner. I believe I detected your siblings coming in earlier?"

She nodded. "Except Mum. She told Rhys she would be late – and we might have to go without her."

"Did she tell Emrys why?"

"Marking."

"Well, we will see her when we see her, then. Now, off you go – I'll be out in a moment."

She jumped up and impulsively gave her father a bear hug before hurrying out to the parlour.

After giving her retreating form a fond look, Severus walked over to the office Floo and throwing a pinch of powder into the grate, firecalled his spouse.

"Esme, it's almost time for dinner – are you going to be able to join us?"

"Hallo darling, I'm almost finished. Just marking them in my book. I really don't want to walk all the way home and then back to the Great Hall. Why don't I meet you there?"

"Half an hour?" he suggested.

"Should be about right." She smiled at him and threw him a kiss through the flames, then laughed as she pulled her head back to return to her marking.

He pulled his head back out of the grate and walked out to the parlour to start a game of wizard's chess with his middle daughter.

* * *

A week later found the Snape family getting ready for the end of term feast. Tonight was what Minerva had dubbed a Hogwarts Family Night. On great feast nights and at least once a week, all the staff families were required to eat in the Great Hall. Over the years two other families, the Longbottoms and the Weasleys, had joined the Snapes and Lupins along the second floor corridor.

Neville had joined the staff to take over from Professor Sprout when she had finally retired, and Hermione had joined the staff on a part-time basis to teach Muggle Studies. The rest of her time was spent tutoring the staff children until they were old enough to be sorted. In addition to the children already in residence, Neville and Hermione had added their own broods to the dynamics along the second floor corridor. Neville and Luna had two children, one adopted little girl named Nancy, who was the same age as the twins, and another little girl, Anita. Hermione and Ron had four children, all under the age of seven. Ron had managed to snag a job, after being an Auror for a few years, with his beloved Chudley Canons as a trainer. Luna worked for her father at the _Quibbler_, which was still going strong.

Severus and Esme lined up the three children still at home and made sure they were all neat and clean. The children wore their primary school robes, light blue with the Hogwarts crest over the left breast. Nodding his acceptance of their appearance, Severus offered his arm to Esme, who took it graciously and thankfully. She was starting her third trimester and appreciated the unobtrusive help. Minerva was walking with them this last evening of the term and Emrys, being the next oldest male in the family, offered his arm to his Great Aunt. Brigida took Rebecca's hand.

The family made their way down the main stairs to the entrance hall and then through to the Great Hall. They seated themselves along the head table where Minerva sat as Headmistress joined by Severus being Deputy Headmaster, a post he had taken when he had returned to Hogwarts. More tables had been added along the front to accommodate the other families and the numerous single teachers.

Minerva wasted no time in ordering the feast to begin. She looked out over her staff tables benevolently. Soon the next batch of Hogwarts letters would be going out and there would be some empty beds in the married quarters on September first.

"Pssst, Rhys, what are you guys doing this summer?" Roger Lupin elbowed his neighbour.

"Dunno," Emrys replied. "Probably going to the cottage for most of the time. That's what we do every summer. You guys are coming out for the annual hunt, aren't you?"

"Far as I know, we're supposed to; Dad's taking us to Disneyland France at the end of July, then we're stopping at Uncle Harry's place for a few days." Roger was the oldest of the Lupin boys. Remus and Tonks had adopted two more boys after Roger and recently had a baby of their own. Tonks was sitting at the end of the table with the baby asleep against her shoulder, attempting to eat without waking him up. "When are you going to Diagon Alley?"

"Probably right before term starts."

Brigida chimed in from the other side of her brother, "I can't wait – my first wand!" Her eyes took on a dreamy look. Professor Weasley had practised beginner's wand movements and charm pronunciation with them – but had used chopsticks.

Roger looked at his best friend and rolled his eyes. "There she goes again."

"Yep," his friend agreed. "Start mentioning school and she's a goner." They both chuckled in amusement. Brigida came back to earth to pierce them each with a look worthy of her father. She had inherited his black eyes and could do a fair imitation of the man at his scariest, although the curly auburn hair took away from the sheer ferocity.

"Well, I intend to learn everything I can," she declared. "Professor Weasley says you can never have too much knowledge. It helped her and her friends defeat Voldemort all those times!" she said in a huff.

"Bree, we live here – we already know more than the standard firstie!" her brother pointed out, exasperated with his sister.

"Yeah, Bree, lighten up – it's the start of the summer. We'll get our letters soon enough. Enjoy yourself!" Roger added.

"I will enjoy myself. Mum is going to give me lessons on the Viola de Gamba this summer," she said proudly. Esme had insisted that all her children learn to read and perform music on several instruments, but only Brigida would think that learning another instrument over the summer was _fun_.

The boys groaned in unison rolling their eyes skyward.

"Rhys, you've got to get her out more often!" Roger whispered to his friend, his eyes bulging out at the variety of desserts that had just appeared on the table in front of them.

"I try, Rog, really I do. But the girl is obsessed," Emrys whispered back, choosing a huge slice of chocolate cake and digging his fork into the confection.

"Maybe you need to talk to your parents?" Roger suggested, reaching for a huge strawberry tart.

"Maybe, but I doubt that will work. They're as mad about learning as she is!" Roger just grunted in response, his mouth full of tart. Rhys was correct on that account. Heck, he had lived next to them all his life, he should know how they were about education – they were his godparents, for Merlin's sake, and they had given him and his brothers educational gifts every year for Christmas and birthdays since they were old enough to talk.

"Look, just try, all right? You've got all summer to turn the bookworm," he pleaded, half in earnest.

Emrys considered this. "And what do I get if I do?" He wanted to make sure it was worth the effort he was going to have to put out. Getting Brigida's nose out of a book was like un-sticking your teeth after eating Hagrid's treacle fudge: nigh on impossible. He'd been trying for years, without any gains.

"I'll take your first detention with you," his best friend offered. Considering that most detentions were spent with the horrid Mr Filch, who on all accounts had not improved his disposition towards students over the years, this was a very generous offer.

"Deal," he agreed.

They spit in their palms and shook hands.

"That's disgusting!" was all Brigida said as she finished her slice of cheesecake. The boys chuckled evilly and dug back into their desserts.

After pudding was over and cleared, NEWT results were handed out to the seventh-years by the headmistress, assisted by Professor Snape. After that came the awarding of the House and Quidditch cups (Ravenclaw and Gryffindor), and when the applause died down, McGonagall called for attention again.

"Three years ago we resurrected an old Hogwarts tradition that had not been needed for several decades; the giving of Hogwarts letters to the children of faculty who've reached or will have reached the age of eleven by September first. Three years ago, the first letter went to Alisha Snape." A bit of good-natured ribbing went on at the Ravenclaw table where the third-year Alisha sat. She blushed prettily, but looked proudly up at her great aunt.

"Now if the following prospective students and their parents would come forth, and if their tutor, Professor Weasley, would also join me?" McGonagall reached into her robes and pulled out a stack of the familiar Hogwarts acceptance letters. She read from them, calling out the students' names. "Emrys and Brigida Snape, Roger Lupin, Nancy Longbottom – please come and stand in front of me."

Severus helped Esme down from the platform and stood next to her behind their children, one arm supporting her from behind. The Lupins and Longbottoms joined them, and Hermione came down to stand behind the headmistress.

Minerva beamed a kindly and proud smile down at the students over the top edge of her reading glasses. "What an honour it is for me to hand you these letters. I've had the privilege of watching all of you grow up here in the castle, and now you will be joining the ranks of the regular students in September, where I am sure you will do your Hogwarts family proud. Now, as I call your name, please come forward to receive your letter; Emrys McGonagall Snape." Emrys stepped forward toward his great aunt and before she handed him his letter, Professor Weasley stepped forward and, running her wand over his primary robes, transformed them into black student robes minus the crest, as he still needed to be sorted. Minerva then handed him his letter, and he stepped back into line.

Applause started to swell as the each child came forward to have their robes transformed and accept their letters. Then their parents urged them to turn and face the rest of the school. Esme, Tonks and Luna all had misty eyes while they looked on as their children took another step towards adulthood.

As the noise died down the Headmistress announced, "The train will be leaving tomorrow promptly at ten in the morning. Be packed and ready to go. DISMISSED!" Her voice rang out across the hall, and a bit of good-natured cheering occurred.

The students started clearing the Great Hall, immediately heading to finish packing or visit one last time with friends from other Houses. Alisha fought against the tide of students to come up to her parents; Severus had crooked a finger at her when Minerva had dismissed the students. She finally broke free and rushed up to give the twins hugs.

"Brilliant! I can't wait for September when we will all be in school together again!" She turned towards her parents to give them hugs as well. "Hallo Da, Mum. Hey squirt!" she hugged her little sister as she came down from the platform to join her family.

"Allie!" Becca squealed. The seven-year-old adored her oldest sister, idolising her.

"Becca," Emrys chided, "it's not like you don't see her all the time anyway!"

"Don't care," the little girl declared. "She'll be home all summer!" She started hopping up and down, holding on to the older girl's hand, in her excitement.

"Idgit!" Alisha said in a fond voice, ruffling Rebecca's auburn hair.

"Alisha, don't forget we are planning to leave for the cottage tomorrow afternoon. Your trunk needs to be down in the parlour by noon so Wizby can move it with everything else," Severus reminded her.

"Don't worry, Da, I'll be there!" She gave him another hug, kissed her mother and ran off to join her friends who were waiting for her at the doors.

"All right, children, let's go home," Esme announced. "We have a lot to do still, and I need to check on the Gryffindors and write up some recommendation letters. Severus, don't be too long." She kissed him lightly and headed her brood up the central aisle.

Severus looked fondly after his family and nearly jumped when McGonagall spoke near him, but managed to cover his startle.

"Did you ever think you would be here today, twenty-some-odd years ago?"

"Never. I could hope, but I never envisioned a family," he said truthfully.

"Those children are a credit to you two, Severus," she fondly pointed out.

He smiled down at the older witch and inclined his head in her direction in thanks. They started walking the length of the deserted hall.

"Are you planning to join us anytime this summer?" he enquired.

"In a few weeks. I wanted to talk to you this evening though, about a new hire I am going to make."

"Oh?" He held the door open for her, and they started up the stairs toward her office. Students were still roaming the hallways celebrating end of term, tracking down lost equipment and meeting with friends.

"Yes, but not here," she said. "Wait until we get to my office." Snape nodded his head and followed his headmistress to the gargoyle on the seventh floor. When they entered her office they headed for the divan near the fireplace.

"Right. To the point," she started, conjuring two glasses of sherry and handing one of them to her deputy headmaster. "Remus wants to cut back, and with the new baby Nymphadora can't share his class time. So," she paused, taking a deep breath before plunging on, "I've decided to hire Potter as the other DADA instructor." She chanced a look at her Deputy Head. His face was inscrutable, as usual. "Lupin will teach the lower forms concentrating on learning about dark creatures and how to deal with them. Harry will teach fifth- through seventh-years concentrating on actual defensive spells and shields and will also take on first-year flying lessons and Quidditch refereeing."

Severus was quiet for a few moments thinking over her news. "I take it he is retiring from the Aurors, then?" he finally asked.

She nodded her head in agreement.

"And Rolanda is retiring as well." Minerva nodded again and took a sip from her glass. She had received Madam Hooch's resignation the day before. "What is wrong with Remus?" he inquired, crossing his arms and legs and shooting a piercing look at his superior.

"I told you, Severus, he wants to cut back on class time. If there is anything beyond that, other than concentrating on his family a bit more, you'll have to ask him. I'm sure I don't know."

Snape hardly believed that last statement, but he let it go. He would have to talk to Lupin; that was obvious.

"Are you all right with Harry coming on staff?" she asked, worried about the old hooded look that had come over his face.

He startled out of his reverie. "What? Yes, fine. We came to an understanding years ago. He'll be living along the second floor corridor, I assume? Do we have enough room? He and Ginny have as many children as I do."

"The castle will accommodate, not to worry," she assured him.

Severus grunted in response. "I am being surrounded by Gryffindors," he mock complained.

Minerva chuckled as she offered to refill his glass.

"Are you sure there isn't a fellow Slytherin amongst all those children?" she teased.

"Please, as if," he said before taking a sip. "The closest any of them come is Alisha, who was sorted into Ravenclaw, and Brigida will probably also end up there as well. Emrys is Gryffindor through and through along with Roger Lupin. Nancy seems to be a bit Hufflepuffish – but she could also be a Ravenclaw," he mused out loud.

"Poor Severus, alone in a sea of Gold and Red," she said, grinning. "How are the Slytherin's coming along?" she asked with a little more concern in her voice.

He frowned a bit. "I was unable to convince Mr Constantine to drop his associations with the old crowd. He took his initiation last night." He twirled the stem of his glass, watching the firelight reflecting through the red liquor. He always felt a bit ill when he lost a student to the dark forces.

"I'm sorry, Severus, I know you tried," the headmistress sympathised. Albus' portrait also nodded his agreement in the background.

"Well, as usual, I've given his name to the authorities to keep an eye on him. He may come around yet; others have, in the past," he pointed out.

"Indeed they have," she said giving his knee a kindly pat.

"Speaking of which, I need to get downstairs and make sure they are getting packed." He finished his drink and, after thanking Minerva for the nightcap, headed out the door.

* * *

As he walked along the second floor corridor to his rooms, he thought about the DADA position change. Something was not clicking. He needed to talk to his friend. He went past his own door and announced himself to the Lupin's door portrait. Remus opened the door.

"Severus, what can I do… ahhh, you've spoken with Minerva," he said as he took in the Potions master's face. He gestured towards the home office. "Come on in." After the door to the office had closed behind them, Remus led Severus to the seating group of comfortable leather wing-backed chairs near the fireplace. "Sherry?"

"I just had one with McGonagall, but thank you," he declined. "What's up, Remus?"

"Nothing, Severus – well, all right, not much." He began to pace. "With the recent rescission of the werewolf legislation of fifteen years ago, the Ministry wants me to take some time and get the word out to the wild packs that it is safe to reintegrate as long as they take the new Wolfsbane. With the new formulation," he nodded to his guest, "being available for free from the Ministry it should be relatively easy to convince them." He finally sat down opposite Snape. "Really, Severus, we have you to thank for that rescission. The new formula is a life saver, literally."

A few years back, Severus and Esme had used her research into magic and music to improve the effectiveness and taste of the potion. As long as the afflicted individual took the new version they were rendered not only harmless, but non-infectious as well - even while transformed. Retaining patent rights, they had sold the formulation to the Ministry for quite a hefty amount of gold with two caveats: it had to be provided free of charge, and the previous legislation banning werewolves from most employment opportunities was to be rescinded.

Severus inclined his head in acknowledgement of Remus' gratitude. "I was afraid something dire was going on that you had not told me," he said, rising to leave.

"No, everything is fine. It is just going to take time to track the wild packs down," Remus said as he escorted his friend to the door.

"We'll see you in August for the hunt, then?"

"Most definitely. The whole family is looking forward to it," he said smiling. "Good evening, Severus."

"Lupin."

Severus entered his quarters to a chorus of "Da!" from his offspring and "Hallo, Professor" from Roger and Nancy, who were spending the night before the close friends separated for the summer.

He looked at the mantel clock. "Becca, it is time for bed, off you go now." He sent her down the hall with a quick hug and firm guidance between the shoulders.

"The rest of you, lights out at ten o'clock. I'll be in the study if you need anything. Please keep the exuberance down to a dull roar," Severus said while pinching the bridge of his nose in mock irritation. "Where's your mother?" he added as an afterthought.

"In the office," Brigida supplied, while dealing a game of exploding snap with Nancy.

"See, we don't need Molly's clock," he teased, "we have you!" All the children giggled as he turned towards the study. When he looked back over his shoulder, though, the boys were back to perusing 'Quidditch Today', the girls back to playing their game, and the volume on the radio had been turned back up to highlight an old Weird Sisters hit.

He shrugged out of his teaching robes, tossing them at the cloak tree that reached out and grabbed them before they fell to the floor, as he walked through the study doorway. His wife looked up briefly as he came in, smiled warmly at him and turned back to her own paperwork. He headed for his desk and pulled a stack of parchment towards him to start his quota of recommendation letters. Sounds filtered through the door, but they were normal and became a comfortable buzz in the background. The professors worked on in companionable silence, quills scratching away.

A knock at the door brought them out of their concentration, and Esme quirked an eyebrow at Severus.

"Enter," he declared, setting down his quill.

The tousled hair of his son peeked around the corner. "Just wanted to let you know we're heading to bed."

"Thank you, Rhys," his mum said. "I'll be there in a few minutes," she assured him.

The boy nodded and shut the door behind him. She sighed and laid down her quill rubbing her hands over her burgeoning belly. Severus came around the desks and, standing behind her chair, unpinned her braid to let it hang down in her lap, like a coiled red and silver snake, and began to knead the muscles in her back, shoulders and neck. She closed her eyes in ecstasy, relaxing gradually to the ministrations of his long fingers massaging away all the tension. She revelled in the feeling of his thumbs finding and eliminating the little knots that always cropped up in her shoulder and neck muscles when she was pregnant.

She let him bend her head forward until it rested on her crossed arms on the desk, as he rubbed the heels of his hands in circles on her lower back.

"Keep this up," she murmured, eyes closed in appreciation and relaxation, "and I'll fall asleep right here."

He chuckled quietly as he brushed his hands down the length of her back a few times to resettle the energies in a straight line, then helped her to stand. He took her in his arms and kissed her lovingly. Her arms convulsed around his neck as his tongue entered her mouth, teasing her sensually. All of a sudden he received a hard kick to his midriff, and they broke apart laughing.

"A beater in the making!" she joked heading for the office door, with Severus _nox-_ing the lights behind them.

"He does seem more active than the others," he noted in an amused voice.

"Trust me!" They _nox_-ed the lights in the parlour as they walked through the flat, stopping at the girls' room on their nightly rounds. They found Becca asleep in her corner bed, Bree and Nancy already in their pyjammas and plaiting each other's hair for the night.

"Everything all right in here?" Esme asked.

"No problem, Mum. 'Night!"

They closed the door and repeated the ritual with the boys and Wizby before finally heading to their own sanctuary.

* * *

Severus woke in the middle of the night and reached out for his wife only to find she was not next to him. He looked around the chamber – ahh, there she was. He relaxed back into the pillows as he gazed at the image of her standing in the moonlight, leaning up against the doorjamb of the opened French doors and taking in the Scottish night air. She had let him unplait her hair earlier and now it cascaded down the length of her body like a silver waterfall in the moonlight. Her sleeping gown swirled about her ankles with the small gusts of wind coming through the doors.

Slowly and quietly he made his way over to her, coming up from behind and placing his hands on her shoulders before drawing her into his embrace, nuzzling an ear. "Knut for your thoughts," he breathed.

She leaned back against his solid chest, letting his warmth seep into her as she brought her own arms up to embrace his.

"Nothing, really, just enjoying the night. Rebecca woke up with a bad dream, and I've just finished putting her back to bed. Hmm, that's nice…" she said as he continued to drop kisses down the side of her neck and along her shoulder. "Nights like this I would love to go for a flight, but it's 'not advisable when I am expecting'." She sighed after having paraphrased Pomfrey.

"Well," he whispered," you might not be able to fly on avian wings, but I can always take you on a flight of ecstasy." He flicked his fingers at the duvet, and it obliged him by floating over and pooling on the balcony floor in front of them, pillows soon following.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Snape Hunt

"Right, is everyone here and packed?" Esme asked her children. She looked around counting heads and equipment. "Wait, where's Rhys? Em – rys!" she called out, clearly annoyed.

"Coming, Mum – forgot my broom!" He ran in from the hallway clutching his Comet 400, his pride and joy. He had saved up his pocket money for the last two years to purchase it. First-years still were not allowed brooms, and he wanted to get as much practice in as possible over the summer.

She clucked her tongue at him as he sheepishly came over to join the group near the door. "Well, put it with the luggage, Wizby will take it all to the cottage." She turned to the little elf. "We will see you in a little bit."

"Wizby will have everything ready to go, Miss Essie," the elf squeaked and, placing a hand on top of the pile, vanished herself and the pile with a loud crack of displaced air.

Esme led her brood out the door, told Gustav they would be back at the end of summer, and marched them down the stairs and out the front doors. When they reached the end of the gravel-covered carriageway, they found Severus waiting for them beyond the gates.

"Alisha, Rebecca, go stand with your mother. Twins over here with me," he directed. The adults gathered the children close to them for the side-along Apparition. Not the most pleasant of experiences, this was the quickest way to the cottage for the whole family.

With a turn in place and a heart-wrenching squeeze later, the family popped out next to the forest. The view was a bit different from the one Severus had seen all those years ago when Esme had first invited him for a bit of summer vacation. The house had been expanded to accommodate the growing family and the guests that sometimes stayed over.

As Esme and Severus strolled toward the house, the children raced ahead to check on their various favourite haunts and garden plots. The new wing stretched into the old garden area and the garden had been expanded with the wall moved in order to accommodate the new living area. Two stories tall, the first floor consisted of a family recreation area, and the second story contained the children's and guest sleeping areas. The original guest room on the second floor had been given to McGonagall as a permanent room when she visited. The girls' sleeping area was an ingenious combination of individual dressing rooms that led from the main hallway to the sleeping porch. This way each girl had her own room to herself, but they kept each other company at night. The sleeping porch itself had windows ranging along three sides above the wainscot and these gave the room a bright and cheery feeling.

Emrys' room was across the main hall and it reflected his love of Puddlemere United. Posters of his favourite players decorated the walls, and the corners of his room contained stacks of Quidditch books and mags. An empty aquarium awaited this year's denizen from the forest.

As Esme and Severus watched, their children entered the garden and began to check it over.

"I love coming here over the summer," Esme said as they entered the kitchen. Wizby had already anticipated her master and mistress and had tea things laid out on the huge kitchen table.

"I know," said Severus with a small smile in her direction as he reached for his cup.

"What are your plans for this summer?" she asked him before munching a biscuit.

"Catch up on my journal reading. I have a stack almost as tall as Becca that I need to read through. Are you teaching this summer?" he enquired.

"No, just ours. Another music teacher actually moved into the village last autumn so I can officially retire."

Severus sighed with relief and Esme chuckled.

"But," she raised a finger to warn him, "the quartet will be getting together a few times before the recital. I'm really looking forward to this one. Do you realise we haven't had one in over a decade? There are so many pieces I want to try, and Dave has written some new music as well."

Severus watched fondly as he listened to his wife expound on her hopes for the upcoming recital. The children barging into the kitchen soon interrupted them as they told their parents about the new things they had found in the garden and moor. Just as quickly as they had breezed in, they breezed out again to put their rooms in order. Esme headed for the master suite to do the same, and Severus headed to the cellar to set the lab and his home office space in order.

* * *

"Da, can I talk with you?"

Severus turned to his son as the boy stood on the cellar steps hesitating to come down any further and interrupt if his father was doing some delicate potions work. Severus had all his children trained to stay well away from the potions bench when he was experimenting.

"It's fine, Rhys. Come on down here." He patted a stool next to the workbench. Emrys jumped the last remaining risers and hauled himself up on the stool. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Bree," said his heir, succinctly. "Dad, she spends entirely too much time studying. It's summer, we've been here for a month already, and the only time she left her books was to go on the family hikes you insisted we all go on and when we went to London last Saturday for mum's recital." His son sighed and looked up at his father. "She needs to get out more and have some fun – at least during the summer! It's embarrassing!" There. At least he had done what he promised Roger he would do. Now he waited for his father to respond.

Severus was silent for a moment, thinking over his response as he stirred the potion in front of him. While he and Esme were particularly happy with their daughter's academic leanings, her twin was absolutely correct in pointing out that she needed to balance her academics with activity.

"What do you propose?" he asked his son, turning the tables back on the boy. He picked up the marble mortar and pestle he was preparing nettles with, and resumed the grinding action to reduce the plant to a fine powder.

"I don't know, something outside though." Rhys watched as his father gently dusted a pinch full of the powdered nettles over the simmering cauldron and blend it in clockwise four times with a glass stirring rod.

"I agree, Rhys, but it has to be something that she will agree to do." Severus took down a jar of dried spider webs and choosing a medium-sized web, let it fall gently to the top of the solution. They both watched silently as the web was slowly absorbed into the mixture. Severus sighed as the mixture turned a deep brick-red colour and removed the small cauldron from the fire to cool. The second the cauldron had been moved from it, the fire had disappeared.

"Can't you just insist?" Emrys tried to wheedle when he judged it was safe to talk again.

"I could, and it might have worked when you two were younger, but you are nearly teenagers now, and that type of tactic has never worked with your sister," his father pointed out.

"True," Emrys agreed reluctantly, slumping his shoulders in dejection.

"It comes to mind that we have never really formally taught you and your sister, as well as Becca, to swim. Alisha learned one summer with Uncle Remus – but you were too little at the time," Severus mused out loud.

Emrys' face brightened considerably at this and he sat a little straighter on the stool. "She does like to play along the edges of the lake!" he said, enthusiastically.

"My thoughts as well." A conspiratorial look came over both male Snapes that was very devious in nature.

The next day the children awoke to construction sounds coming from the moor just on the other side of the garden wall. An entire wizarding construction crew was digging a large hole and using their wands to coat it in concrete. The children all tumbled into their play clothes and raced through the kitchen to stand outside and watch. Esme and Severus just chuckled and sent Wizby outside with plates of breakfast for their brood.

By the end of the afternoon, the pool was finished, complete with its own warded wall to keep the children out when their parents or Wizby were not around. The construction wizards had all pointed their wands at the pool, murmured _Aguamenti_, and the children were amazed at how quickly the pool filled with the water. A warming charm was the last spell cast over the water before the wizards left.

It was the perfect enticement to his bookish daughter to get her out of the house. She took to the lessons like a fish, as did the other two, and Alisha helped teach Becca as her father instructed the twins. Wizby always kept a nervous eye cast on the children, wringing her hands and ears, convinced they were all going to drown themselves. Rhys was congratulating himself for winning the bet; Brigida was having the time of her life in the pool.

* * *

"All right, family and assembled friends," Severus said a few weeks later in August. "This morning is the Annual Snape Hunt." He rubbed his hands together in glee as he surveyed the twenty-five people gathered in his recreation room. This was the largest turnout yet for this event. This morning he was dressed for the business at hand in a black t-shirt, black jeans, dragonhide boots (black, of course), and his hair had been pulled away from his face into a clubbed tail at the base of his neck.

Everyone paused where they stood in various stages of eating the repast that Esmerelda and Wizby had produced for the huge gathering.

"Now, at the gate are the gathering baskets complete with lists, reference books and implements to ease in the harvesting of the plants." He began to pace as he recited the rules. "The person or team of persons who returns by one o'clock with the most items will win their choice of sundae down in the village." There was quite a cheer from the younger members of the crowd at that announcement. "You may hunt for ingredients individually or as a member of a team consisting of no more than three people - one of whom must be starting Hogwarts in September or older." He waited a moment for the grumbles to die down.

"Remember to leave a marker at any gathering site, and remember to leave some of the plants behind for continued propagation. No more than three markers are allowed per plant type. Last year's markers have already been removed." He sneered down at the grumbling students in particular. "The use of _Accio_ as a harvesting method is strictly forbidden. So, if everything is clear, finish your noshing and we will begin in fifteen minutes' time on the stroke of the hour."

The murmuring began again in the room as teams started to form. Severus walked over to the food table to grab a cup of coffee from his wife, who was staying behind this year. The scavenger hunt had turned into an annual event ever since the children were old enough to read and help their father find fresh potion ingredients from the forest each summer.

The Lupins had joined them after the first hunt, and each year more and more Hogwarts families had accompanied them. This year even Potter and his brood were coming along. In fact, Harry was heading towards his old nemesis with his eldest following behind.

"Severus."

"Potter."

"I'd like you to meet Jamie, my eldest daughter. She'll be starting this September." He added at Snape's upraised eyebrows. Snape nodded in acknowledgement of another apparent war orphan. He turned to the young lady hiding partially behind her father's robes.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Potter," he gently said.

"Th-thank you, Sir." A shy girl, she gazed up at the imposing presence of the Potions Master from the protection of her father's arm around her shoulders.

"Have you had a chance to meet any of the other children yet? No?" He looked around the room trying to espy his middle children. He gave up and called out instead, "Emrys, Brigida – front and centre!"

The two children materialized out of the crowd to stand in front of their father. Jamie Potter's eyes were wide in awe at how quickly the two had responded to the command. Harry just chuckled to himself. He was well aware of the impression Snape made to students in particular. It was deliberately cultivated, although he had reportedly mellowed over the last dozen years. Harry and Severus maintained a cordial relationship these days working together on projects for the Ministry. After Harry had made his apology to the former Death Eater, the two had gradually learned to tolerate and, sometimes even grudgingly, respect each other.

"We're here, Da," came the quiet response from Brigida.

"We didn't do anything! I swear!" was Emrys' immediate response. Harry unsuccessfully covered a snigger at the protestation. It had sounded very familiar. Snape caught the half-concealed snort, and a quick uplift of the corner of his mouth was all Harry received in response. Severus was going to have his hands full with that child.

"Emrys, Brigida, I would like you to meet Jamie Potter. She is Professor Potter's eldest daughter. Would you please take and introduce her to the rest of the children? Thank you."

"C'mon, Jamie, there are loads of kids here," Brigida said, taking the girls hand in hers. Harry looked fondly after his daughter as Brigida led her over to where the other children were congregated.

"Thank you, Severus. She is such a quiet child – not a bit outgoing," he sighed.

"My children will cure her of that," Severus gibed. He turned to his wife again. "Are you going to be alright?" he asked with a touch of concern in his voice.

"I'm fine. Just a bit of a backache. Go on, it's almost time," she said making a shooing motion with one hand while the other was pressed to the small of her back. Harry chuckled and walked away as Severus leaned over to give Esme a quick kiss and then led the group out the back door to the baskets lined up on the stone fence.

The participants clumped up in their chosen groupings with parents shepherding the youngest children and school-agers sticking together. Jamie Potter ended up joining Brigida and Nancy Longbottom. A distinct advantage on her part as Nancy's father was the Herbology Professor at Hogwarts. Emrys and Roger paired up with one of Roger's younger brothers, and Alisha had invited some classmates to join her this year. Little Rebecca was paired with her father, much to her annoyance. She really wished she were old enough to join the older children.

When Severus blew the whistle the groups all grabbed their baskets and fanned out across the moor toward the forest.

Esme watched them go and as they disappeared from view turned to sit down and prop her legs up on a convenient ottoman. Minerva had arrived a few days earlier and was chatting with her former students, all mothers now with young children that were still too young to join in the Snape Hunt. The women gossiped while Wizby, with help from Dobby, cleared away the morning dishes.

At ten-thirty though, Wizby insisted that Esme take her nap. She followed to make sure her mistress really got into the bed and closed her eyes.

"Miss Essie must get her rest! Miss Poppy says so. I be making sure of it!" the little elf said as she tucked the duvet around Esme. Esme gave the little creature a warm smile and obediently closed her eyes. She really wished this back pain would just stop.

"So, Rog, you get to pay up!" Rhys said gleefully as the boys headed for their favourite haunts in the forest. They knew where most of the ingredients on the list were located and decided to start at the farthest locations first and work their way back to the cottage.

Roger's eyes grew wide. "Did you really? How?"

"Didn't you see the new pool?" Emrys asked his best friend.

"Yeah, I meant to ask you about that." He sounded quite envious of his friends, although he knew he would be staying all week and would be able to enjoy it himself.

Rhys cracked a wide smile. "We can't keep her out of it!" he crowed.

Roger guffawed and started laughing. "That's brilliant, Rhys!"

"Yeah, I took your advice and finally asked Da at the beginning of the month to intercede. We talked a bit and came up with the pool idea. Da told Brigida he had decided we three youngest needed to learn to swim." Roger laughed even more at the very Slytherin way Professor Snape had manoeuvred his daughter into having fun.

"Then I will very gladly share your first detention!" Roger finally managed to say to his best mate. "But let's make sure it lasts until start of term!" Emrys groaned at the truth in that statement; his sister could very well revert to her former ways in a heartbeat, and they still had a week to go before start of term.

* * *

Esme awoke to her husband's hand stroking some stray hair away from her face.

"Hey," he said as he noticed her eyes opening.

"Hey, yourself. Did I oversleep? Is the hunt over already?" she sleepily asked him.

"No, I came back for you." He smoothed more damp hair away from her eyes.

"Huh?" She was still a bit groggy from her nap.

"Your water broke while you were asleep." He smiled fondly down at her.

"It what?" she exclaimed, giving him a startled look. Now that she was awake she could feel the spasms. "Merlin, my backache this morning – it was back labour!" She grimaced as a harder spasm flowed down her belly.

"Apparently," he grinned. "Ginny Potter came in to check on you a few minutes ago and noticed the sheets were soaked. She summoned me immediately. Becca is with Lupin," he added quickly as he saw worry creep on her face. She sighed in relief at his reassurance. "Now let's get you cleaned up and into some dry clothes." He got up and, shutting the door, twitched his wand at his wife and the bed, stripping them both and redressing them just as quickly.

"Severus, it is five weeks early…" she mumbled as she tugged the nightgown around to a more comfortable position.

"I've already done a diagnostic and everything is fine. The baby is placed correctly, lungs are fine and you are progressing nicely. Our beater is just ready to join us now!" He brought over another pile of fresh bedding for later and laid it nearby. He then helped Esme to sit back down against the pillows he had conjured for her. "Minerva's gone to get Poppy, and I believe Wizby has gone to the flat to grab some baby things. I think she is really annoyed at herself for not knowing he would come early!" He sat down facing her, taking both hands in his. "Now breathe, Esme," he started coaching. She focused on his eyes as another spasm hit and she began to pant.

* * *

Harry and the rest of the Hunt trooped back to the house, tired but triumphant. All had enjoyed a fun time, and the baskets were full of ingredients that were all under freshness charms to keep them safe until Severus processed them. Ginny rushed out to greet him as they neared the stile gate.

"Harry, Remus, can you keep the children busy out here?" she asked a bit hurriedly.

"Of course, Gin." He shared a look with the werewolf. "What's up?"

"Esme's gone into labour. Severus and Poppy are with her. It shouldn't be long now but let's keep the exuberance out here," she pleaded.

"No problem. We'll sort the baskets and then go swimming or something." Remus offered.

Ginny looked relieved. "Thanks, I'll send out some refreshments in a moment." She kissed her husband, hugged Remus, then headed back to the house.

"Well, Remus, seems like another godchild is on its way!" Harry slapped his friend's back in camaraderie. Remus just grinned in happy reply.

"Hey, you lot! Over here!" Harry called out to the rest of crowd as they straggled in across the moor. They circled up around the two wizards and Harry explained what was going on as well as the plan for the rest of the afternoon. The groups dispersed to count their contributions and sort them on the tables in the greenhouse.

* * *

A soft knock came at the door and Remus and Minerva peeked in together.

"Severus, you have some children out here about to burst," Remus chided his friend.

"Let them in then and come see your new godson yourself," was the reply.

Remus opened the door to let Minerva and the other children in, then softly closed it again before coming over to see the new pup.

The children piled on the bed, Rebecca cuddling up against her father as she reached a tentative hand out to touch her baby brother's still damp hair. Remus leaned up against the headboard looking over Severus' head.

"Congratulations, you two. You've done it again!" he said as he watched Esme with the baby.

"Thank you, Remus," Esme said quietly. She cradled the little boy, wrapped in a blue blanket, in her arms; enjoying her first moments with this latest Snape scion.

"Have you picked a name?" Minerva asked.

Esme looked up at Severus who supplied, "Albus John Bruce Snape. Probably A.J. for short."

"Very appropriate," said Remus as he reached out a finger to the infant who grabbed it tightly. "Well, hello A.J. What a strong grip you have. Good Quidditch qualities," he chuckled. "Right kids, let your mum and brother catch some sleep."

He gathered up the children and escorted them out of the room after they each gave their mother and new brother a kiss. Minerva came up to the bedside as the others left.

"Thank you, Severus," she said quietly. "I know he would have appreciated the gesture. I can't wait to tell his portrait." She pulled out a lace hanky to wipe her suddenly damp eyes. "May I hold him while you get settled?" she offered her niece.

Esme handed the now sleeping baby to her aunt while Severus removed himself from behind his wife and stretched his sore and tired limbs. He let Poppy and Wizby finish cleaning his wife and bed while he conjured some tea and biscuits for them all. With the fresh linens on the bed and a second fresh nightgown on Esmerelda, she lay down and was soon fast asleep. Minerva gently placed the sleeping baby in the waiting bassinet and scooted it so that it was up against the side of the bed.

Seeing that everything was well in hand, Severus headed for the bathroom for a quick shower and change of clothes for himself. He exited the bedroom several minutes later, feeling greatly refreshed, to find everyone except the Lupins, his children and Minerva gone from the house.

"Merlin!" he exclaimed, slapping his head in remembrance. "The hunt! How did it go?"

"It went fine, Severus. I believe Neville's daughter and her group came in first. Harry and Neville went ahead and took everyone down to the village for ice cream after the children wore themselves out in the pool. Great new addition, by the way!" Remus smiled over at his friend, who acknowledged the compliment with an upturned edge of his mouth and a nod. "They all apparated home a little while ago."

"Are you hungry?" Tonks asked, getting up and tripping over a toy in the process only to be caught by her husband's automatic outstretched hand.

Snape smirked at the former Auror's tendency to still cause a disaster wherever she went. "No, I'm just tired. I'm beginning to agree with Esme, I think this is our last one. I'm getting too old!" he joked.

Minerva snorted as she made room for him on the divan. "You're just hitting your prime, my boy, look at Albus – 150 years."

"Yes, yes, I know and compared to him I'm just a newborn, am I?" he quipped.

"Far from it!" she snapped. "I'm just saying you still have a lot of good years left. You're only fifty-one," she pointed out.

He inclined his head in acceptance of her assessment. "Still, five children is enough, I warrant. Especially when I never even saw myself with even one all those years ago." His voice lowered as his eyes glazed over a bit at the memory. He soon brought himself back to earth however as he looked at his children scattered across the room. "Ah, looks like Rebecca has hit her limit." He got up to walk over to the little girl curled up asleep near the fire, the newest kneazle cuddled up against her. Casey had finally passed away the previous summer. Severus picked up his youngest daughter, her legs and arms unconsciously hugging him as her head laid limply asleep on his shoulder. The kneazle got up, stretching and yawning and followed her mistress.

"Come on, kids, time for bed." His children, as well as Lupin's, followed him up the stairs in the kitchen to the bedrooms in the new addition. The children took turns in the bathroom as he supervised, with Alisha's help, the washing of faces, brushing of teeth and changing into pyjamas. He tucked Becca into bed with her favourite stuffed dragon, the kneazle curling up at her side. After bestowing good night wishes and hugs to the girls and tousling the heads of the boys, sternly telling them that the lights were spelled to go out in thirty minutes, he headed back down to enjoy a nightcap with the Lupins and Minerva.

Remus held up his cup to the assembled folk. "I give you Albus John Bruce Snape, long life and happiness!"

"Long life and happiness!" came the response as they all quaffed their sherries before heading to bed.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – Getting Sorted

A week later found the two families departing for Diagon Alley to purchase school supplies. After flooing to the Leaky Cauldron, the first stop was Gringotts to withdraw some gold for the day's purchases. While Remus and Severus took the trolleys into the bowels of the bank, the others idled around on the outside steps.

Roger sidled up to his best friend and drew him away from his twin.

"So," he asked sneaking a sidelong look at Brigida, "how successful do you think the turning has been?"

"Mildly," Emrys muttered. "After Da put the pool in, she spent the first week learning to swim and the second week playing in the water. But by the third week she discovered that she could get Mum to cast an Impervious charm on her books so they wouldn't get wet, and now – well, you saw her all this week," he sulked.

"Yeah, I did." Roger thought about the sight of Brigida lying on a float in the pool in her customary reading position with a schoolbook in front of her. "Maybe we can draw her out further at school, don't twins tend to get sorted into the same house?"

Emrys shook his head. "Only about half the time, and we're fraternal. Besides, if there was ever anyone slated for Ravenclaw, Rog, it's Bree," he said with a firm conviction.

"True." His friend had to agree. The boys hushed up as their fathers rejoined the family groups. The adults chatted for a moment determining the shopping strategy, and then it was off to Madam Malkin's for robe fittings. Even though the three younger children had their transfigured blue robes they still needed uniforms and a few more robes to fill out their wardrobes.

They continued with their shopping trip, and the packages piled up in their father's pockets as they purchased potions ingredients, writing supplies, course books and eventually wands.

Ollivander had never been found after the war, and a distant cousin had eventually taken over the business. Before they entered, Alisha took her father aside.

"Da, is it alright if I go to the Weasleys' store? Some of my friends are over there." She waved to a group of students across the street.

"I suppose, if you must," he drawled, rolling his eyes. "But stay there and we'll pick you up after we are done here. This is our last stop for the day and we still need to get lunch before heading home."

"Thanks, Da!" She gave him a quick hug, took her pocket money that he placed in her palm and ran across the alley to join her friends in entering Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Severus did not even want to know what she was going to bring into the school. At least she knew never to use the gags in class. The standing rule was to have her pocket money cut off for the term and at least three detentions with her father if she was ever caught perpetrating a prank. He had already given the same speech last week to all the new students that had parents on staff. The parents had all agreed that these children needed to be an example to the rest of the students, and as Severus was the most menacing of all of them, he got the honour of presenting the rules. Minerva had sat in on the meeting to add her weight to the matter.

He turned and entered the store hearing the tinkle of the bell over the door. Roger was currently at the counter trying out wands, the discard pile growing steadily. Remus was leaning with his back against the counter, arms and feet crossed in a relaxed mode with an amused look on his face. He raised his eyebrow at Severus as he came in.

"At this rate we'll be here all day!" Remus quipped. Severus chuckled and went to stand next to his wife, taking possession of A.J. to give her a break. The baby was living up to his previous abilities and was constantly in motion while awake, making him quite a bundle to handle.

Finally, the proprietor handed Roger a wand that immediately issued sparks.

"Ah," Ollivander murmured knowledgably. "Larch, nine and half inches, werewolf tail hair." Remus started up from his relaxed position.

"What? Whose?" His eyes took on a bit of hooded menacing look. Ollivander raised his eyebrows at the veiled threat. He checked the box number and summoned a ledger to his awaiting hands. Thumbing through to the correct page he checked the entry. He looked back up at Remus. "You are Mr Lupin?" He continued after the affirmative nod. "Then you should not be surprised to learn it was your tail hair, freely sold to my predecessor in nineteen eighty-four along with three others. This is the first that has claimed a wizard or witch." He made a tick under the sold column and turned the ledger so Remus could verify the information for himself.

Remus relaxed as he remembered those days of living hand to mouth and having to sell off shed portions of himself that he found after transformations to disreputable potions makers on Knockturn Alley. He had approached Ollivander with the four tail hairs after his last transformation before he had begun taking the Wolfsbane potion. He had forgotten about them and had assumed they had all been sold. Now he had a sneaking suspicion as to what would happen with the remaining three wands.

Remus paid the price for the wand, and Roger was absolutely thrilled to have a wand whose magical core came from his father. Severus and Remus exchanged guarded looks at each other as Emrys took Roger's place at the counter and the whole process started over again.

Forty-five minutes later Emrys and Brigida both had their first wands, and the families headed over to the joke shop to pick up Alisha. Severus refused to go in, preferring to keep himself ignorant as to what the two former juvenile delinquents were selling, but he handed over some pocket money and let the rest of his brood spend a few minutes in the shop while Remus and Tonks chatted to the Weasley twins and Esme went looking for her eldest. He would never tell, and the twins would cut off their own hands before any of them revealed the fact, that he had been helping them with their pranks and potions since their school days. Privately, he loved seeing what new products they came up with – as long as they weren't used in his class. He had to draw the line somewhere!

He was amused, as he stood outside the shop - AJ asleep on his shoulder, at the reactions of people as they spotted him. Students were friendly, tossing him a "Hallo, Professor!" or "See you in class, Professor!" Older wizards and witches who had been his students or had gone to school with him, shot a veiled look at him from under their hats and would politely acknowledge his presence but hurry on past, giving him a wide berth. Some things never changed, he mused. He would always be _persona non grata _in some circles no matter how many times it was explained he had been a spy for the side of light.

He sighed to himself; it didn't really matter. He had his circle of family, friends and colleagues who knew the real Severus Snape, and it had been a long road to travel, but worth it. He shifted the blanket over the sleeping infant and smiled warmly as Tonks and Remus led the rest of the family back out onto the street to rejoin him, and they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron for a hearty lunch before flooing on to Hogwarts using a special connection to Minerva's office.

McGonagall sniggered as both families tumbled out of her fireplace one after another and waited for the last Lupin to arrive before vanishing the soot away from her relatives and the rug.

Esme gave her a quick kiss as Severus shepherded everyone out the door and down the spiral stairs. "Thanks for the connection, Auntie!" Esme tossed over her shoulder.

"No problem, dear. I'll see you at dinner tonight."

Esme waved her agreement as she headed out the door.

* * *

The next day chaos reigned along the corridor. The front doors were left open to save the portraits from getting cross at all the coming and going between the flats from the children and their parents. The Potters and their brood moved in during the morning, and then there was the getting ready for the train arrival, packing up of the children who would be moving to the dormitories, and various swapping of articles. The children had just thrown their things into the trunks when they had left the cottage and hadn't really checked to see what belonged to whom.

Alisha had moved her trunk and herself, as soon as possible, over to her dorm to escape the craziness in her parents' rooms. And was there craziness! Repacking of trunks, making sure everything was found, babies crying, parents pulling out their hair and escaping to their offices, siblings pulling jealous temper tantrums because they weren't allowed to go to Hogsmeade Station to see the Express pull in.

Finally six o'clock rolled around and Hagrid appeared along the corridor to gather the five new first-years and take them to the station to meet the train and join the other firsts in the traditional row across the lake.

The parents watched as their children, dressed in their new school robes and faces scrubbed until they shined, dragged their trunks behind them to leave them at the landing and follow the half-giant down the main stairs. Ginny audibly sniffed, and Luna came over and put an arm around her shoulders.

Severus gave the rest of the parents a look that clearly said 'Let's go get in place'. They gathered up their remaining family members and followed him to the Great Hall.

* * *

The five faculty offspring stood on the station platform awaiting the bright red school train. Hagrid looked over the group fondly as he lit the lantern and checked on the Thestrals waiting in line with their one-hundred carriages. The three girls had huddled together, a bit unsure of what to expect, and the two boys were craning their necks to peer down the tracks, hoping to get a glimpse of the locomotive first.

"Now, when the train pulls in, yeh lot stay close to me. There'll be a lot of confusion on the platform, and it ain't worth me job to 'ave one of yeh get lost!" he reminded them.

"We will, Hagrid!" came the chorus of the five children.

They heard the train before they spotted it and saw a plume of steam rise above the treetops. Hagrid pulled the boys back to a safe distance with his meaty hands, chuckling all the while. The girls were literally bouncing on their toes, but they all minded him and stayed close by.

The train slowly pulled into the station, and as soon as it stopped with a belching of steam and a squealing of the brakes, the students were pouring out of the compartments and the older ones began heading towards the waiting carriages. Hagrid's familiar call of "Firs'-years…firs'-years over 'ere!" rang out over the platform and the small first-years, who barely came up to his hip, gathered around the half-giant.

"Is that all of you? Right, off we go. Watch yer step now, bit slippery down this 'ere slope." He led the straggling line of about forty students to the waiting boats and oversaw the loading of them. With only four students to a boat, he ended up with Jamie Potter in his. As soon as she was settled against his knees the line of little boats took off across the lake, the moon shining brightly on the cloudless night.

The children oohed and aahed appreciatively when the castle came into view, lights glittering from the windows and a half-moon in a clear night sky illuminating it from above. The boats slowly made their way to the interior dock, and Hagrid led the line of students up the stairs to the waiting Deputy Headmaster. He gave the faculty kids a wink, which they all responded to with a nervous smile, and after announcing to Professor Snape that the first-years had arrived, headed off to the feast.

* * *

After years of watching the sorting hat do its job, Severus had become quite good at pre-sorting the first years in his own head. A little girl who comforted another child as they stood waiting to be sorted he could automatically place in Hufflepuff. The know-it-alls were almost primarily Ravenclaws. The ones who stood back studying their fellow students would probably be Slytherins; and those who did not put up with any bullying, Gryffindors.

Severus stood in his customary place at the inner landing awaiting the new crop of first-years. He could see the long line of magically propelled boats floating quietly towards the dock. For once he was nervous, although no one would be able to tell by looking at him. Outwardly he was the stern, cool Potions Master, the black bat of the dungeons and the bane of all students existence. Inwardly he was eagerly waiting to see where his own children would be placed.

The first-years jumbled together as they alighted from the coracles and milled about on the stairs. Snape waited for Hagrid to make his traditional announcement and sniggered inwardly as he saw the large bear of a man reassure his own group of children with a wink and head up the stairs. After Hagrid had gone through the doors, he favoured the group of five friends with his own look, raised an eyebrow at them and then quickly looked away to glower at the rest of the group.

"Your attention, please!" announced Severus. The students hushed up immediately. "In a few moments I will escort you into the Great Hall to be sorted into your houses. There are four Houses at Hogwarts: Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Your House will become your family during your stay with us. Each House has a long and noble tradition, and I know each of you will strive to be a credit to whatever House you are sorted into." He began to pace along the top landing, hands clasped behind his back and periodically throwing a look towards the students staring up at him from the steps.

"Your stay at Hogwarts is governed by many rules," he emphasised. "Break those rules and you suffer the consequences from lost House points to detentions to being expelled - if the offence is too great. Your dorms and common rooms will be with your House. Points gained or lost by you will be reflected in your House totals, and the House with the most points will win the House cup at the end of the year. Until your third year, when you may choose electives, your classes will be held with your year's housemates.

"Each House has a teacher who is considered the head of your House. I am the Slytherin Head of House, my wife is the head of Gryffindor, Professor Longbottom heads Hufflepuff, and Professor Flitwick is the Head of House for Ravenclaw. You shall formally meet your heads of house later this week." He halted his pacing to stand squarely facing them.

"Line up into two rows and follow me," he demanded. "Quickly, quickly, I haven't got all night." The children jockeyed for position, his own - with their friends behind them – at the top of the line. He slyly winked at the five, and they had a hard time restraining the giggles. They all knew what he was really like – well, all except Jamie Potter, but she went along with her new gang and smiled shyly back up at him. When the new students had managed two ragged lines he swirled his cloak as he turned in place and led them through the doors into the Great Hall.

The older students and assembled ghostly denizens of the castle craned their heads around to watch as the eleven-year-olds entered the room. There were a few cheers from the tables as the five in the front were recognised and some call-outs of encouragement from older siblings to younger ones.

Professor Snape stood next to the stool with the sorting hat upon it and unrolled the scroll in his hands as they listened to the hat sing its song. When it was all over, Severus truly felt as if he should take the place of the hat – he had placed every single child in his mind just as the hat had done. For the ones he considered 'his five' not a single surprise. Roger and Emrys joyfully joined the Gryffindor table amid back slapping and welcoming from their older friends. Brigida went to sit next to her sister in Ravenclaw, Nancy joined Hufflepuff, and Jamie Potter also got sorted into Gryffindor, to Harry and Ginny's obvious beaming pleasure.

He was quite pleased with the results and happily sat amidst his fellow faculty and their younger children as they talked about the size of the new class, their plans for the new term, welcoming back Harry as the newest faculty member, and various and other sundry items.

He ate quickly and efficiently so that he could hold A.J. and give him his bottle while Esme started in on her dinner. The youngest Snape kicked and squirmed until the warm contents settled him down and Severus watched in fascination as the little hands relaxed, the eyelids fluttered closed and finally the mouth grew slack as the baby fell asleep in his father's arms. He gently raised his son to his shoulder to burp him, and after the requisite bubble had come up and was disposed with, the baby was cradled in his arms below the level of the table.

It no longer mattered to Severus what caring for his children at the head table did for his reputation as a hard arse. He was strict where it counted, in the potions lab, and the students who thought otherwise quickly discovered this to their detriment, and that of their House point standings.

After pudding, the headmistress rose to give the start of term announcements and then quickly dismissed the students to head to their towers.

* * *

Severus joined his wife on the divan after changing his son and putting him into the bassinet and going into Rebecca's room to tuck her in and read her a story. It would be her first night alone in her room since she was born and while excited to have the room all to herself, she was also obviously a bit apprehensive. Before he left the room Wizby popped in and curled up on the floor next to her young mistress' bed, 'to keep her company' she explained to the concerned parent. As the loyal house-elf fell asleep, he conjured an elf-sized pallet underneath her along with a blanket and pillow, then quietly snuck out of the room and closed the door to a crack.

"Are the children asleep?" Esme asked, looking up from her transfiguration journal. She laid it down on the side table and handed him a cup of tea she had poured out for him.

"Yes, and Wizby is sleeping near Becca to 'keep her company'."

His wife chuckled at the news. "She is a bit overprotective, isn't she?" She scooted over to her husband and snuggled under his arm. He set his cup down to participate wholeheartedly in the cuddling session. They rarely got a chance like this outside of their bedroom.

He played absently with her hair as he leaned over to kiss her gently, enjoying the sensations of her tongue teasing him and her hands roaming under his robes. He growled playfully deep in his throat and, rearranging their position on the couch, pulled her down on top of him in a much more comfortable position for making out.

His hands slowly divested her of robes and underclothes as she playfully used her wand to strip him of his robes, one item at a time. When they were both totally naked, she transfigured the divan into a pile of fur rugs in front of the fire as he cast a Silencio on the room and began to explore his wife anew.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – The Marauders' Mutiny

With Minerva in charge of the school curriculum, Severus had finally convinced her, several years before, that for peace of mind in his lower form potions classes, the pairings should go Gryffindor with Hufflepuff, and Slytherin with Ravenclaw. It made for less strife and less melted cauldrons in class.

He strode along the hall outside of his first class on Monday morning and noticed the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first-years milling outside the classroom door. A bit of wandless magic opened the door, and he hustled them inside, pleased to note his son and Roger Lupin taking the seats in front of his desk with Nancy Longbottom and Jamie Potter joining them. He silently pleaded to Merlin that these two girls were unlike their fathers when it came to potions.

He gave his best imitation of a bat as he glided around the room reeling off his standard first-year speech. Good, he thought to himself as he saw fear and respect in all their faces, very good indeed. He waved his wand and the directions for the simple potion he had picked for today appeared on the blackboard. He hovered around the room peering into cauldrons and actually helping some of the students with advice. He noticed his own son helping Jamie Potter with preparing her ingredients, showing her the proper way to slice the shrivel figs. He snuck a peek into Emrys' cauldron as he walked by, saw that it was at the proper stage and gave the boy a nod of acceptance. Emrys had helped his father enough times over the years that this was an easy potion for him to prepare. Roger's potion, while not the perfect consistency, came close, and the Longbottom girl did not melt her cauldron, although the smells wafting from it were a bit off.

"Those whose potions have achieved the desired colour of lavender, bottle a sample and place it on my desk. The rest of you, two feet on the reasoning behind the preparation techniques used for this potion as well as why your version was not correct. Dismissed!" He nodded at the several children from both houses who brought up bottled samples and watched as the students cleaned their desks prior to the bell ringing.

"Mr Snape, a moment please!"

He watched as his son pushed his friends toward the door and then walked up to his father's desk.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Good job today helping Miss Potter," he said appraisingly.

"Thanks. She said she didn't get much potions tutelage at home – not like we got with you and Professor Weasley."

"No, she wouldn't have. Again, good job, and five points to Gryffindor. Now off to lunch!" His son grinned at him and, grabbing his book bag, rejoined his friends at the door, and they ran off towards the Great Hall.

Emrys, Roger and the two girls entered the Great Hall and found seats together with his sisters. Over the years, while inter-house rivalries still ruled the roost, Minerva had relaxed the rules of sitting only at your house table during breakfast and lunch as these meals were pretty much grab what you can, when you can. This also tended to increase the amount of inter-house cooperation. Dinner was a more formal affair, and the students were expected to sit at their house tables.

Alisha welcomed the other first-years to sit near her and Brigida, and passed them the platters of sandwiches.

"So, how did your first morning go so far?" she asked her younger brother.

"Great! We had Da first thing this morning in Double Potions with the Hufflepuffs. We four teamed up together," Emrys replied before stuffing half of his sandwich in his mouth. Brigida looked away from her twin in disgust.

"I had Transfiguration with Mum, and Charms with Professor Flitwick," she offered.

"How did you do?" Nancy asked her, a bit of trepidation in her voice.

"Alright, I guess. Mum pulled her owl routine and you should have seen the looks on the other kids' faces when she transformed back! It was fantastic! I managed to make my matchstick all silvery, but the tip wasn't sharp enough. I'll do it next time, I'm sure. And Flitwick's class was fun, too. Of course we all got our feathers to float – quite easy, that one. So, he moved us on to larger items…"

Roger and Emrys rolled their eyes at each other; she was gone into academia-land again. Nancy just shook her head in amusement at her best friend's ramblings, and Jamie looked frankly amazed. She leaned over to Nancy and whispered, "Is she always like this? So gung-ho about learning?"

Nancy nodded before answering. "Yes, and I am told our Primary Teacher, Professor Weasley, was just as bad when she was here as a student. Bree is mad about learning. There is a reason she and Alisha are both in Ravenclaw, although I've always thought Alisha belonged in Slytherin, myself. She can be quite devious, that one."

"I heard about the school Aunt Hermione was running here. Dad thought about enrolling me, but Mum said the local village school was good enough. Dad snuck around her, though, and had Aunt Hermione teach me some things on the side – like Latin."

"She's a stickler about that, isn't she? I know it's necessary for all the spells we'll be doing, but I found it really hard. Brigida soaked it up like water." She reached into the bowl on the table for a handful of crisps, popping one into her mouth before placing the rest on her plate.

"I liked it well enough; wasn't fantastic at it, but she was patient with me," commented Jamie.

"What is it like with all those cousins?" the other girl asked, frankly curious.

Jamie perked up. "Oh, loads of fun. My uncles are all great, even Uncle Percy. But the clan is huge!"

"There were seven children of our parents' generation, right?"

"Yeah, and then they all had loads of kids. I'm kind of shy, and Mum and Dad adopted me when I was four, so at first I couldn't handle all these people all at once. So, at the first few get-togethers Grand-mum would take me in hand and introduce me to everyone one by one. Dad was good too; he would let me hide behind him until I got used to the noise. I'm used to them all now, but I still get shy in new situations."

"That's ok. My parents are that way. They are both kind of quiet, Papa especially. Well, you'll find out when you have him for Herbology." Nancy shrugged dismissively and reached for another sandwich half.

Esmerelda watched from the head table as her progeny and their friends ate a hearty lunch and discussed their first morning at Hogwarts. Some of Alisha's friends came over to introduce themselves and then hauled Alisha away to some project. The five friends headed out of the Great Hall, and she smiled to herself as she realised her twins were growing up. Of course, she still had two at home, and it would be another eleven years before the last one was attending classes like his older siblings, but it was still hard to let them go.

"Knut for your thoughts?" asked her husband as he sat next to her and reached for the sandwich platter.

"Nothing much, just reflecting. How'd Potions go with Emrys and his gang?"

"Quite well, actually. No meltdowns – amazingly enough. I worried when I realised I was ending up with another Potter/Longbottom combination, but Emrys helped Miss Potter with understanding how to prepare the ingredients and Longbottom did not melt a cauldron. Her father did that the first day he was in class with me and managed to spatter the potion everywhere." He smirked to himself at the memory and glanced down the table to where Neville was sitting, eating his sandwich while reading a recent journal. He looked over at his wife and noticed something was missing. "Where's A.J.?" he enquired, curiously.

His wife motioned further along the table. "Aunt Minnie has him; she offered to feed him for me. So I've had a rather delightful lunch." She grinned at him a bit evilly. He peered up the table to where his boss was cooing down at his son, feeding him his bottle.

"Doing alright there, Minerva?" he called down to her with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm fine, Severus. Eat your lunch and then you may have him back!" she shot back.

"Yes, Grandma!" He smirked good-naturedly. The rest of the staff members laughed at the verbal sparring between the in-laws. Esme raised her hands in mock defeat.

"I'll leave you two to it, then. Wizby is expecting him back by one, however." She kissed the top of her husband's head as she got up from her seat and went over to place a peck on her aunt's cheek, as well as bestowing a motherly kiss on her son's forehead. She traversed the length of the Great Hall to head back to her office for afternoon office hours, not that she expected much business on the first day back, but it was her routine.

That evening after dinner, she headed towards the Gryffindor tower for her traditional start-of-term speech to her house. Normally she gave a short speech welcoming the new first-years, and this year was no different except that this year were three children she considered 'family', literally and figuratively. After her speech she brought the prefects forward and introduced them and then headed up to the dorms to make a quick inspection and to make sure none of the children needed anything.

When she came back downstairs to the common room, she wandered around for a few minutes checking on the various activities, then quietly made her way out the portrait hole and back to her second-floor rooms quite contented with the way things were starting out this year.

The following day, the first-year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors had Herbology together. The four friends ended up sharing a table together, and Jamie was a bit apprehensive about the class, as she really knew nothing about plants.

However, when Professor Longbottom walked in, she relaxed a bit as she saw how kind he looked. Dressed in a sturdy canvas robe, gardening implements stuck in various pockets and his wand in a sleeve pocket, he gave off the air of a lovable uncle. He set the first-years to studying and identifying common herbs – various species of which were laid out on the tables. As they took notes on the various types and their common uses, they also spent some time re-potting the specimens into larger containers.

Professor Longbottom seemed to Jamie to have a bit of absent-mindedness about him as well, as he was constantly forgetting where he had laid a tool down. The children started snickering after the fourth episode of this – and Neville just smiled at them and then spotted his mislaid spade. He was used to the laughter. Jamie decided she was going to like this class and happily returned to re-potting the spearmint in front of her.

The class that they were all looking forward to, was flying lessons with Professor Potter. The notice went up on the common room door during the second week, and the class was to be held for all four Houses at the same time - Wednesday afternoon at four o'clock.

The 'faculty five', as they were beginning to be called, could barely contain their excitement. They had all heard stories about Professor Potter, and Jamie was more than willing to expand upon their knowledge. She knew all the stories from when he had been a student, and all his exploits on the Quidditch pitch.

At lunch on Wednesday, she was the centre of attention with most of the first-years gathered at the Gryffindor table for lunch to discuss the upcoming class.

Severus noted the group as he came striding along the central aisle towards the head table. He grabbed an empty seat next to Harry and sat down, unfolding his serviette as he did so. Harry handed him the platter of roasted chicken.

"Some chicken, Severus?"

"Don't mind if I do, Potter." He took the platter and served himself a roasted breast and after setting it back down reached for the bowl of buttered asparagus tips. "I see your class today is stirring up the first-years. This has got to be the first time I've seen the students so fired up about learning to fly," he commented as he reached for some butter and a basket of rolls.

"So I'm told," Harry said drolly. "We'll see if there are some Quidditch potentials there. How is your House team shaping up this year?" he enquired.

"Oh, we have a chance this year – quite a strong team. I assume you will be cheering for the Gryffindors?" he sneered.

"Always." Harry grinned over at his fellow faculty member and was pleased to see a slight upturn of the lips in response.

Severus studied the younger man a bit as they set to finishing their meal. He had worked with Harry a bit after the war on various projects for the Ministry – mostly mop-ups. While their animosity toward each other had desisted, they were still merely cordial with each other. He knew Esme got along with him well, they'd had several conversations over the years, and she was especially close with Ginny. Of course Remus was like a second grandfather to the Potter offspring, and Severus knew Lupin still wished for Harry and Severus to get to know each other better rather than merely burying the hatchet.

When he was honest with himself, like he was at this moment, he could honestly say that Harry was nowhere near a copycat of his father. He was a serious young man; with his hair starting to go grey, a bit prematurely, from all the energy that he had unleashed fighting the Dark Lord during the final battle. He also was starting to get laugh lines around his eyes and lips, so he obviously was enjoying his life.

Severus decided that if he could make the time this afternoon, he would find a way to be in the stands to watch the lesson.

Four o'clock did not come fast enough for the first-years. Professors had to chide them in class to stop sneaking peeks at their watches and to pay attention. But eventually it did come and the entire first-year form trooped _en masse_ to the Quidditch pitch.

Harry was waiting there with forty new brooms laid out in a circle in the centre of the pitch. He knew the brooms he had trained on when he had been a first-year and knew that the brooms were probably still the same ones, so when he had been hired, he had made a gift to the school of the forty new Comet 350s, a good solid standard broom; steady in the air with a comfortable cushion charm and easy acceleration. They would last for a good many years, with a bit of care given to them.

"Circle round, students. Everyone stand next to a broom – make sure the broom is on the side of your wand hand – very good, very good. Now before we start, how many of you have flown before?"

Several hands were raised in the air. Harry was surprised to see that Brigida and Nancy's hands were not among those that were up.

"Good. Those with their hands up, grab a broom and circle up down by the south goal; you will find some quaffles and golf balls to practice with, and my wife will be refereeing you. The rest of you, tighten up the circle." He waited for the children to move in a little closer to him. "Now, place your hand over your broom and say 'UP'."

Severus and several other of the faculty were watching from the stands. He saw the first group of students head to the southern end of the pitch where Ginny Potter was waiting with a large bag of quaffles and a smaller bag of golf balls. As the students reached her, she handed out about four quaffles to be tossed between them and then mounting her own broom, hung the smaller bag off of it in front of her and, reaching in, began to throw the smaller balls at various students as she called their names.

He looked over to where Harry was handling the other students and was pleased to see most of them had achieved some height off the ground. Brigida was white in the face with fear and had a death grip on the handle, but she was managing to hold her broom steady as she circled about ten feet off the ground. When all the students were airborne, Harry had them circle a few times, then started showing them how to raise and lower themselves, come to a stop in mid-air, gentle turns and, of course, landings.

It was a fast hour, and the children were all loathe to put the brooms away, but Harry insisted as well as showing them how to properly maintain the brooms. Severus was satisfied with how the lesson went, and there was a lift to his stride as he walked back to the castle. He had never been able to get Brigida onto a broom by herself, and by the time the lesson was over, she was attempting to catch a Quaffle that her brother had thrown at her and had actually caught it! Yes, Severus was very satisfied indeed.

* * *

"Emrys McGonagall Snape! I am thoroughly disappointed in you, and you too, Roger Lupin!" The headmistress' brogue was prominent as she let her anger get the best of her while verbally chastising the two young men. The boys cringed in their seats as she continued her tirade concerning their actions that morning. With her lips pressed into a thin white line and the colour up in her cheeks, she looked as if she was going to blow steam without the benefit of Pomfrey's Pepper-Up potion. The boys had seen her mad over the years, but never like this and never at them directly.

* * *

It had started out innocently enough. Early snowstorms had cancelled all outside activities for over a week, and the children were starting to go a bit stir-crazy. It was the second full weekend cooped up inside the castle, so Emrys and Roger decided to have a bit of fun.

Earlier that summer, when the children had shopped at the WWW, the boys had come across a brand new product line from the twins. A whole box load of pranks! The boys were chatting excitedly over it when George came over to see what they had discovered.

"_Ah, young Master Snape, that is our best product line yet - The Marauders' Mutiny. It is close to outselling the Deluxe Skiving Snackboxes!"_

"_How much?" Roger had eagerly asked the ginger-headed proprietor._

"_Two Galleons and 10 Sickles." George watched as the young boys emptied their pockets and pooled their money together. They were a few sickles short. Never one to quash the budding prankster, George instantly decided that the box was on sale and led the smiling customers to the cash register to get rung up._

The boys had been saving that box for a day like today.

They decided they would just prank the Ravenclaws in general and had stayed up late that night to plan their attack. Jamie Potter had been sitting near them and listened in very quietly as she pretended to study her chapter for Charms. When the area around their table had cleared enough to allow a private conversation, she placed her book down and leaned in to the two best friends, asking a question that frankly stumped them.

"How are you going to get there without being seen?"

Rhys stammered a bit trying to come up with an answer. "Well, we… erm… we… we haven't discussed that yet." His friend nodded sagely beside him at the clearly lame excuse.

Jamie just looked at them a moment as if they were a pair of idiots and then, seemingly making a decision, ran up the stairs to her dorm leaving her books behind. Roger and Emrys just stared at each other, shrugged and resumed their planning. Jamie quickly returned, however, with an old piece of parchment in her hand and a piece of shimmering material.

"Look, I'm not a prankster – much as Dad wishes I was – and he gave me these at the start of term. He got them from his dad – in a round-a-bout way. This is an Invisibility Cloak, and this is The Marauder's Map." She tapped her wand on the map muttering the incantation 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good', and the boys watched in amazement as the entire grounds of Hogwarts and the castle floors magically appeared on the map as lines.

"What are these…" Roger peered closely at the map. He gasped. "Those are people walking around the castle, there's your Da in the Dungeons, Rhys!" Jamie nodded wisely as the realisation hit the boys what this old piece of parchment meant.

"You boys do know who the Marauders were, don't you?" she asked as if it should be a foregone conclusion as to what the answer should be.

"Sure," said Roger. "My dad was one of them; he's Moony," he said proudly. The boys had grown up on the tales of the Marauders as told by Remus. He never told them when Severus was within earshot, but sometimes he was able to get Esmerelda to add a few stories of her own to the mix.

"Right." She nodded. "My Grandpa was Prongs, Sirius Black was Padfoot and Peter Pettigrew - the traitor - was Wormtail." She fingered the parchment in front of them. "This map was created by them so that they could go around the castle without getting caught. It shows all the secret passageways and every room, well, almost every room. Dad discovered that it wouldn't show the Room of Requirement." She pushed the map towards Roger after muttering the counter-spell 'Mischief managed'. "You can have it, your dad was a Marauder. But I'll need the cloak back when you are finished with your prank."

The two boys thanked her profusely as she picked up her stack of books and headed back up the stairs to her dorm.

The boys decided to set up the pranks that night so that they would have all day on Saturday to enjoy the fruits of their labour. They waited until the common room had cleared out around midnight, and donning the cloak and taking the map in hand while Roger carried the box of pranks, they made their way through the portrait hole. They were so intent on activating the map and checking to see who was around that they never heard the Fat Lady mutter, " Oh, not again!"

"This is fantastic!" Emrys whispered to his friend as they slowly made their way along the deserted corridors.

"Uh, oh – there's Mrs Norris up ahead!" The boys quickly took a detour behind a statue and waited for the cat to pass by. They thought they were caught when she stopped in front of the statue and began sniffing the air and the floor, and they breathed a huge sigh of relief when she continued on her nightly prowl.

Things went a little easier from there until they noticed another person coming along the corridor ahead of them. Roger leaned in to read the tiny nametag and nearly gagged when he realised it was his dad and Professor Potter patrolling the halls together. He pushed at Emrys to turn around, and they ended up having to backtrack over two previous corridors and three sets of stairways to avoid getting caught by the two wizards.

Eventually, they did manage to make it to the Ravenclaw corridor. Roger nudged his friend as he blanked the parchment.

"What?" Emrys hissed at him.

"How are we getting in?"

"Oh, no problem, whatsoever!" Emrys grinned over at his friend as he whispered a set of words at the portrait guarding the common room door.

Brigida learned her lesson the next day of never sharing her common room password with her twin.

The Ravenclaws' morning began with arriving in their common room to find everything covered in a thick film of Instant Ice-Rink Ice, and they had to slip and slide their way to the portrait hole where the first person to open it discovered the next surprise: A bucket of WWW stink pellets. These were not your run-of-the-mill stink pellets. No, these had different charms built into them.

When the pellets hit the ice they scattered all over the common room and disappeared from view. When an unsuspecting student slid into one the pellets realms of influence, a shield sprang up around the student encasing them in their own personal stink pellet torture that only they could smell. Some of the pellets had realms of influence that caused the unsuspecting person to suddenly shrink down to the size of a mouse. Even more transfigured themselves into Instant Nifflers when stepped on, and these caused even more havoc throughout the tower.

As screams tore through the Ravenclaw tower, Roger and Emrys were hiding in a nearby classroom watching the chaos reigning supreme on the map and laughing uproariously. The straw that broke the camel's back was when Emrys' sisters slid across the room together and landed on a spot where a shrinking pellet and a shield pellet had combined. The girls were too small to take the fumes from the stink pellet and passed out before they could get beyond the charmed area. Luckily, another student had spotted them before a nearby Niffler had decided that they qualified as booty, and scooped them up in his hand.

Unfortunately, when Flitwick arrived after hearing the commotion, he was unable to break the shrinking charm on the girls – the two spells combined had changed the nature of the shrinking charm. As McGonagall and Lupin came rushing to see if they could help Flitwick negate the pranks, McGonagall heard the two Gryffindors in the classroom laughing. She rushed in and discovered them hastily trying to hide the map.

"Boys, what do you know of this?" She stared down at them over her glasses, her hands crossed in front of her body and her lips tightly pursed.

The two boys reddened up pretty quickly, but did not say a word. They knew they had been caught.

"I don't have time for you right now, go up to my office and wait there. I'll be with you after we get this sorted out," she growled at them.

"Yes, ma'am," they mumbled. As they passed her she held out her hand expectantly. When neither boy responded she prompted while snapping her fingers. "The map, Mr Snape, if you please!" Emrys guiltily pulled the parchment out from his robe and handed it slowly over to his great aunt. "And the cloak," she continued, switching her gaze to look at the other junior marauder. Roger sighed and pulled the Invisibility Cloak from his pocket and handed it to the headmistress. They trudged off in the direction of her office and dutifully sat down in the two hard, wooden chairs in front of her desk to await their fate.

"You realise, Roger, that this will be my first detention?" Emrys felt compelled to point out to his best friend.

Roger looked dumbfounded at Emrys, then placing his face in his hands moaned, "Bloody hell!"

* * *

"Do you know that your sisters could have been eaten by that Niffler? That they had passed out and were too small to get away to safety?" McGonagall stood in front of Emrys' chair. The terrified boy shook his head violently, the colour draining from his face.

"I am dealing with this because your parents are too upset to be rational about it. Four pranks at once? And where did you get the map and the cloak? I happen to know that these were Professor Potter's. Do I need to add stealing to the mix?" The boys looked at each other, but neither would give up Jamie as the provider of the two items.

"We didn't steal them, Grandma," Emrys muttered.

She sniffed and looked at them some more and then walked around her desk to grab a stack of parchment and began to furiously write out several notes that magically Apparated off her desk as she finished each one.

"Grandma, are they alright?" Emrys asked timidly. Minerva glared at the young boy.

"No thanks to you." Both boys cringed at the harsh tone in her voice. She clasped her hands in front of her on the desk and leaned in towards the miscreants. "We had to call in Bill Weasley, as well as the Weasley twins, to figure out how to nullify the two spells and restore your sisters back to size. Madam Pomfrey had to give them a number of potions to restore their lungs. The fumes were toxic to them at that size. They will be spending the rest of the weekend in the infirmary to make sure that there was no further damage. I would not advise going to see them; they are not in a charitable mood at the moment."

"We're sorry, ma'am," Roger began to apologise.

Emrys chimed in right on his heels, "Yes, grandma, we're sorry; we didn't know that would happen!"

Minerva sighed as she finished the last of her notes, and it Apparated to its destination with a last flick of her wand.

"I am deducting fifty points each for you." She watched as the boys just looked at each other and then looked back at the floor, which apparently had become quite fascinating in the last hour.

"Emrys, I know your father gave all of you the behaviour speech at the beginning of term as I was sitting right there when he gave it. You know that the punishment will be harder. Besides the points lost from your House, you will each be doing detentions with each of your fathers every Friday night for the next month, and you will be apologising publicly to Ravenclaw. Tonight. At dinner," she snapped out.

"Yes, ma'am," was the muttered response she received.

"I am so disappointed in you!" she reiterated. "Now, get out of here and march straight back to your dorm. I don't want to see your noses out of there until dinner time."

The boys rose as one and shuffled out the door and down the steps, heads still hanging down avoiding her gaze, and all those of the previous headmasters and mistresses who were tutting away in their frames.

When she was sure the boys were out of hearing range, she turned to the portrait of her former colleague and best friend. "Albus, what am I going to do with them? They are almost worse than the Weasley twins! Oh, I gave Fred and George such a good tongue lashing after we got the girls restored!" She leaned back in her chair covering her mouth with one hand as she started to chuckle.

Albus sucked on a painted lemon drop as he laughed with Minerva at the morning's antics. "They didn't give up their sources either. True Gryffindors, both of them."

She snorted. "Yes, to Severus' displeasure. Not a Slytherin amongst the lot." She retrieved a piece of shortbread from the tin on her desk. "Harry told me in the infirmary that he had given the cloak and map to Jamie. Felt it was part of her inheritance." She snorted in incredulity. "He has decided that _maybe_ the children are still a little young for it and took the Cloak back to place in hiding until they are older with cooler heads on their shoulders, if they should make it that far! I have the map and have placed that in a safe place."

"They will, my dear. I really think that there is more Slytherin in Emrys than he lets on. I should think that this escapade has taught them a lesson, and if it hasn't quite sunk in yet, well, I believe between their fathers' detentions and the tongue-lashing they will receive from Mr Snape's sisters, that it will, soon enough," commented Dumbledore with a little upturn of his mouth and a glint in his eyes. Minerva just sighed and conjuring a pot of strong tea, prepared for the rest of the day. It wasn't even noon yet, and it felt like a full day.

Severus and Remus found the most disgusting jobs between them for the two miscreants to participate in for the next month. Besides scrubbing desks and cauldrons until their hands were red and raw, Severus had them preparing the most foul of potions ingredients that he could find for the student stores. Remus had them cleaning the DADA room every Friday night after Severus' duties and then working on lines for the remainder of the time.

Meanwhile, their mothers had sent Howlers that had exploded open at dinner prior to them having to get up and apologise loudly to the Ravenclaws for the destruction of their common room. Then came the shunning from Emrys' sisters. The boys were ignored for the entire month and forced to eat all meals at their House table. It was a happy day the Saturday after their last detentions when Brigida came over and invited them to join her and Alisha at the Ravenclaw table.

Emrys started first as soon as he sat down. "Guys, we're sorry…"

Alisha shushed him. "Enough said, Rhys. You'll know better next time. You absolutely blew it by getting caught, and setting off four at once! Even the Weasley twins never did that! Let me give you a hint," she said as she piled eggs and sausages on the boys' plates and passed them a rack of toast. "One at a time is much better and much funnier. You only managed to piss off a lot of people by piling them all on at once. So, now that you've learned your lesson, eat up!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Christmas at the Cottage

The following week was the start of the Christmas holidays, and the five were really looking forward to the break. There were very few students, besides those that lived permanently in the castle, who were spending the holiday at Hogwarts. Over the years, after the war had ended, it had become a tradition amongst the married professors to take those children in over the holidays to give them the feel of a homey Christmas.

This year, three students, who had chosen to remain behind rather than go back to their orphanages for the season, joined the Snapes and Lupins at the cottage for three weeks of snowy fun. Adeline Skinner and Fannie Potts, third- and fifth-year Gryffindors, had both been regular guests for Christmas; Chadwick Carver was another first-year Gryffindor from the same orphanage Alisha and the Lupin boys had come from, and this was his first holiday away from there.

Being mutual godparents to each other's children, the two families had decided to join their Christmas celebrations from the first year they'd both had children.

The families waved off the rest of the students to the carriages, then took a large one for themselves to the Apparition ward edge and Apparated everyone to the edge of the property. The adults strolled along the crusty ground while the children ran on ahead to dive into the piles of snow that had blown up against the field stone fence walls. Before the adults had even reached the stile gate, sides had already been chosen and a snowball fight had begun.

As Tonks and Esme hurried the two babies inside while laughing, Severus and Remus were the unfortunate victims of their children's wayward balls and decided to join in the fun. Each taking a side, the two men delighted in catching an unwary student and dumping snow on them. When everyone tired of the activity, Severus waved his hand and started a ball of snow rolling around the yard, picking up snow as it went and getting bigger and bigger. Remus and Alisha caught on and joined in with their own snowballs until three graduated balls of snow were on the ground near each other. The children cheered and ran to put the snowman together.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in making and decorating more snow statuary, some being very creative. Eventually a snow family and several pets were arranged in the meadow, and the wet and snowy, but very happy children were trooping inside to warm up by the parlour fireplace drinking mugs of hot chocolate laced with pepper-up potion at Severus' insistence.

Chadwick was amazed at seeing his normally staid and proper professor throwing snowballs, making snowmen with the rest of the children and then laughing in front of the fire. Professor Lupin he knew was a jovial sort, but not the Potions Master! Adeline and Fannie delighted in his gawping; they were used to this by now, and both were considered a semi-permanent part of the extended family.

As all three came from Gryffindor, they knew what to expect from Madam Snape, she was always kind-hearted to her 'little lions' and was constantly making sure they were taken care of – but Chadwick did not know much about Professor Snape. At school, while he occasionally cracked a joke in class, they were still somewhat snide in content, and he was still the stern Professor willing to deduct points from any House if they were not paying proper attention to their cauldrons, or while stalking the hallways with his robes flaring behind him. Roger and Emrys never said much about him either when they discussed their families late at night in the dorm. Tonight though, he was the one making sure Chad felt welcomed, and eventually he was the one who showed the children to their guest rooms on the second floor.

"Are they all in bed?" Remus asked as Severus re-entered the parlour accepting a glass of mulled wine from his wife.

"In bed, yes. Asleep?" He shook his head amusedly. "No, but they should be soon. I think I've totally messed up the mind of Mr Carver, my dear," he said, not whole-heartedly apologetic to his wife.

"I'm sure you have." She grinned back. "Why is it always the Gryffindor's who get left at school? Hardly any of the other Houses have stay-overs during the holidays," she asked reflectively.

"Just the way it works out, I suppose," interjected Remus. "Merlin, that was fun this afternoon!" He yawned and stretched out his frame along one of the sofas, grinning as the Snapes laughed at his cracking and creaking joints, and laid his head in his wife's lap. She smiled down at him as she ran her fingers through his thinning hair.

Tonks looked over at her best friend. "Is Minerva joining us for the holidays?"

"Auntie said she would be coming in on Christmas Eve. Said she was going to enjoy the peace and quiet of an empty castle for a few days!" She giggled. A cry from the bedroom caused her to sigh though. "_Accio_ milk bottle," she mumbled and pushing up from her chair grabbed the bottle from mid-air and headed for her bedroom and the crying infant.

In a few moments she re-entered carrying A.J., who was already beginning to grab onto the bottle and try to hold it himself. She sat next to Severus who put an arm around her and smiled down at his youngest child who gazed solemnly up at his father for a moment before breaking out into a brilliant toothless smile around the bottle's nipple.

"That's my boy!" Severus murmured. Remus laughed from his prone position, he was just as fond of this godchild as all the rest.

Severus looked over at his friend. "How are the changed DADA classes going? Is Harry working out?"

"Actually they are going quite well, if I say so myself. Harry is working out brilliantly – well, he already had teaching experience from the DA club all those years ago – the older children really respect him and his experience, and he just has the gift to teach the subject. It was really quite sickening watching the adoration on the students' faces when they realised they had him for a teacher. But a few well placed hexes brought them back to earth rather quickly." Remus sniggered at the memory.

"And what about your venture among the wild packs?"

"Slow going. They do not trust the Ministry, with good reason. But now that Arthur is in charge, things are changing for the better, and as the wild packs see this, they are more apt to trust the changes that apply to them. Those that have come back to society are experiencing those changes and telling others from their old packs and encouraging them to come back. I've been going around with samples of the new potion and talking one on one. Like I said, it is slow going but worth it." He sighed as Tonks kissed his forehead in sympathy.

Severus took the baby from Esme as she vanished the empty bottle and started playing with him on his knee. "If you need any more help, let me know."

Lupin was stunned. "Thank you, Severus, I'll keep that in mind." He yawned deeply again and grinned when Tonks laughed at him. "I think it's time for me to get some sleep. Come along, Dora my 'dorable. Let's go upstairs and scare those children into being quiet." He stood up and, tucking her arm in his, headed up the stairs to the second floor.

Severus tossed the baby in the air, tickling him as he came back down causing the baby to giggle madly. "It's time for you to go back to sleep as well, my little man!" He tucked the baby in one arm and offered his hand to his wife who gladly took it as he led them back to their bedroom.

The next week was a flurry of activity. Decorations were brought out; the right tree was found in the nearby woods after much searching on the part of the children and the two wizards. Wizby was in her element baking and cooking up a storm in the kitchen. She was always happiest when she could be doing something for her family. Then came trips to Diagon Alley for gift buying and an afternoon where everyone disappeared into separate corners of the house to wrap those gifts.

Outdoor activities were not neglected as forts were built, skating occurred on the frozen pool, and of course a lot more snow fights. The boys were even able to get Brigida to participate.

Christmas Eve was always special as the Snapes held a party for all their associates, friends and their families. McGonagall arrived to spend the next few days with her family and helped prepare the house for the arriving guests. The children of the household were decked out in party robes and eagerly awaited their friends showing up for supper. Soon enough the first knock came at the door, and the Longbottoms were ushered into the front room followed quickly by the Weasleys, the Potters and others. The house was soon filled with laughter, good smells from the kitchen, good music in the background and even the arrival of Father Christmas (also known as Professor Longbottom) to the great delight of the smaller children. A.J. was not amused and broke out screaming after taking one look at the kindly saint. Esme had to take him into another room before he quieted down.

After the departure of Saint Nick (and the amazing reappearance of Professor Longbottom), the parents and their children began to take their leave to prepare for Christmas day at their own homes, and the children of the cottage were sent to bed as well. Remus, Severus and Wizby set out all the presents under the tree before taking to their well-deserved beds.

* * *

"Wake up, wake up! It's Christmas morning!" Rebecca jumped up and down on each of her sisters' beds in turn and then headed for Adeline and Fannie's beds. Alisha grumbled and made a grab for the imp, but missed entirely and grimaced as the child ran away laughing and bouncing from bed to bed.

Similar noises could be heard coming from across the hall as the younger Lupins woke up the boys and their parents. The children all found stockings hanging from their bedposts and amused themselves emptying out the mounds of treats, new quills, and small toys for the younger children. Soon enough smells of bacon and coffee wafted up the stairs, and McGonagall and Tonks were calling down the hall that it was time to come downstairs.

The children pulled on their housecoats and slippers and piled out into the hallway to troop downstairs, Alisha carrying Becca, who was sucking on a Sugar Quill, and Roger taking the hands of his younger brothers.

Chadwick was amazed at the sight that met his eyes when they reached the front parlour. The tree was all lit with fairy lights and wizard candles, and the piles of presents surrounding it were amazing. Professor Snape insisted on breakfast first, though, so the family went into the kitchen and gathered around the laden country table to feast on everything Wizby had produced.

Esme gazed from the head of the table over her extended family gathered round. A.J. was content in her arms with his morning bottle, dressed in red footed pyjamas that had Santas moving all over it that all looked remarkably like Professor Dumbledore – a gift from his great aunt Minerva. Everyone was talking and laughing, enjoying the food and passing the jugs of pumpkin and orange juice while the adults sipped on cups of tea or coffee. She caught her husband's eyes at the other end of the table and joined him with a contented smile. Life was very good this Christmas.

Remus was the first to notice that everyone was finished eating and made the announcement that the opening of presents would now commence. A veritable stampede took place as the children all headed into the parlour. The adults strolled in after them and commandeered the seating while the children sat on the floor; each awaiting their presents with barely contained enthusiasm.

Emrys and Alisha took charge in checking tags and handing out the piles of presents. All the children received various assortments of school supplies, books and warm jumpers from the adults, and various other items of enjoyment from each other and their friends from school.

Each family had received baskets of home-made goodies from Molly Weasley, and the three guests had received jumpers from the kind-hearted witch as well. Severus' gift to Esme that year was another half-kneazle from the same family he had obtained Casey from all those years previously. The kneazle they currently had preferred staying with Rebecca, and he knew Esme missed her own cat. He enjoyed watching her bond with the kitten as it clambered all over her lap, chewing and tugging on the long plait of hair before curling up next to the baby on her lap.

For her part, Esme had managed to obtain an extremely ancient potions scroll from her contacts in the Eastern European region for her husband. She chuckled to herself as she saw him gently unroll the scroll and start reading. He was lost for the rest of the morning. In fact, he eventually wandered down to the basement lab to try out some of the potions listed.

The rest of the holiday was spent enjoying presents, working on homework – which Severus supervised – and playing outside. It didn't take young Chadwick long to join in as one of the family, and by the end of the holiday he was wishing he could stay at the cottage with this boisterous extended family forever. The trip back to the castle was a near reverse of their arrival. Wizby took the luggage back and locked up the cottage, resetting the wards, and the adults Apparated the children back. They arrived just as the train pulled into the station, and grabbed a large carriage back to the castle.

The families split apart as they entered the castle with Severus and Lupin heading to their classrooms to set up for the next day, Tonks and Esme leading the younger children back to their flats and the students heading toward their respective common rooms after saying a hearty thanks to the professors for hosting them for the season.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – A Trip To Hogsmeade

Alisha was sitting at her regular table in the Ravenclaw common room surrounded by piles of schoolbooks. Four weeks back from winter break - and it felt as if it had been a year ago. The teachers had been piling on the homework, and Alisha was feeling the pressure. But it was a pressure she liked. She worked best when the heat was on, so here she was working on a three-foot essay for Professor Lupin on Centaurs. She had even gone so far as to gain an interview with Professor Firenze who, while quite vague at times, ended up adding quite a lot of information that was not in the library books. She dipped her quill into her inkpot and continued to elaborate on the herd structure – specifically of the herd in the Forbidden Forest.

She did not notice her little sister approaching and sitting down on the opposite side of the table. It finally took Brigida clearing her throat to gain Alisha's attention.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Bree, I didn't hear you sit down," the older girl said, looking up quickly.

"That's alright. I was wondering if you were going to Hogsmeade on the thirteenth?" Brigida asked while spreading out her own homework and reaching inside her bag for a bottle of ink and a quill.

"Is there going to be one? I hadn't noticed," said Alisha with her head back down and her quill scratching away again on her parchment scroll.

Brigida sighed. How like her elder sister to not read the notices. "It was posted on the notice board last weekend! Anyway, I was wondering if you would get me some Chocolate Frogs from Honeydukes? That is, if you were going…" she requested a bit wistfully. If there was one thing she absolutely adored, it was Chocolate Frogs.

"Ran out of your Christmas stash already?" asked Alisha with a smirk worthy of her father on her face. She leaned back in her chair surveying her begging sibling.

Bree nodded. Alisha had gotten her a huge box of the Wizarding treat for Christmas, but even limiting herself to one Frog a day, her supply still had dwindled quite rapidly. She secretly suspected some of her dorm mates had snuck a few – but that was fine with her; she was willing to share as long as they left her the cards; it was her stash after all. Still, she needed to replenish her box.

Alisha finally relented. Really, Brigida was a favourite sister and never really bothered her all that much. "Alright, I'll go. Just get me your money beforehand." She leaned back in to the table to resume her writing.

"Thanks, Lish, I really appreciate it." Bree rushed around the table and gave her sister a big hug before returning to her seat to start on her homework.

February thirteenth dawned cold and clear. Alisha and her dorm mates - Roxie, Blanche, Lorraine and Rena - were bundling up in cloaks and scarves when Brigida rushed into her dorm.

She panted as she held out a bag of coins to her big sister. "Here…is the…money…for the…Frogs!" she managed to finally get out. She sat on the edge of Alisha's bed as she gained her breath back. She was absolutely red in the face and clutched a stitch in her side. "I ran all the way from the Great Hall. I thought you might have already left!"

"Calm down, Idgit. If you hadn't come in by the time I was ready to leave, I was going to hunt you down." Alisha stuffed the bag into a pocket, tossed her House scarf around her neck and pulled on her matching mittens. "You guys ready?" she asked her mates. The other girls nodded and they headed out the door with Bree trailing behind. She saw them to the portrait hole and then headed off to the library to work on an essay for her father, still clutching the stitch in her side.

The five Ravenclaws got in line to be checked off by Filch as being allowed to go to Hogsmeade. They chatted as the line moved slowly forward eventually making it past the sour old squib and his mangy cat and wandered down the road to the wizarding village.

"Where to first?" Roxie asked as they approached the edge of town.

"I need a new robe," offered Lorraine.

"I need to get some Frogs for Brigida and some rolls of parchment for me," was Alisha's contribution.

"Well, I want to look at robes as well, shall we start at Gladrags?" The girls all agreed to this suggestion by Rena and headed over to the clothing store.

They eventually made the rounds of all the shops they needed to hit as well as a stopover at the Three Broomsticks for some butterbeers when Alisha remembered she had forgotten to stop at Honeydukes for her sister's Frogs.

"You know what, you four go on ahead, and I'll catch you up on the road. I'll just take this alley over to Honeydukes and meet you," Alisha suggested, pointing out the dimly lit alleyway that led over to the next street.

"Are you sure?" Rena asked, a bit concerned at this plan. "We could just wait for you."

"Nah, it's too cold to just stand around. Go on ahead, I'll be fine. It won't take me long, and I'll just run to catch you up," she insisted.

"If you say so." Rena wasn't convinced this was a good idea but Alisha seemed insistent. And really, what harm could there be? The four girls waved to Alisha as she slipped into the alley, and they headed on down the road towards the school chatting animatedly about their purchases.

Alisha never made it to Honeydukes.

Halfway along the alley she was hit by a whispered _Petrificus Totalus,_ and as she fell forward onto the ground she heard an _Accio_ as well and felt her wand leave her pocket. A piece of paper was shoved into her hand, and moments later she felt a hook-like feeling behind her navel and was portkeyed away. She never saw her attacker's face, and she never heard the pop of their Disapparition. All she could think about was how worried her family was going to be. Cold tears flowed down her face as she was whirled away.

* * *

Brigida wandered over to her sister's friends at dinner that evening.

"Hey guys, where's Lish?"

"Don't know," Blanche said as she dished herself some shepherd's pie. "She said she would catch up with us on the road after she hit up Honeydukes for your Frogs. We never saw her though." She shrugged as she began eating.

"Didn't she make it back to you, Bree?" Rena asked. "I kinda figured she would search for you first."

"No. I've been in the library all day. It's getting late though." She sat in thought for a moment drumming her fingers on the table in concentration. Coming to a decision she got up from the table. "Save me some pie, would you? I am going to check with Mr Filch and see if she has checked back in."

Rena looked at her dorm mates who did not seem overly concerned over their friend's absence, but she'd had a bad feeling about this entire venture since Alisha had suggested it. Making a decision, she got up from the table as well. "I'll join you, Bree," the older girl proffered.

Brigida gave her a grateful look as the two girls headed out the double doors and walked to the Great Doors where Mr Filch was standing, rolling up his scroll and getting ready to close the doors for the night. The look on his face was enough to make the girls think twice about approaching him, but when Rena stalled Brigida grabbed her hand and pulled her along as she approached the caretaker. She was determined to get to the bottom of this.

She hurried up to him. "Mr Filch, has my sister checked back in yet?"

"No, she has not!" he growled at her. "I was just on my way to inform the headmistress. When that girl gets back here, there'll be hell to pay for her tardiness! Mark you, she'll have detention for a month if I have any say!" Filch was livid, the girls realised.

"Why don't I let her know, Mr Filch? You've been standing here so long, I'm sure you would just like to go sit down with a nice hot cuppa? I need to inform my father as well, and I can let them both know at the same time!" she wheedled to the caretaker.

"I don't know…" he wavered, stroking the cat in his arms thoughtfully.

"Come on, Mr Filch. You've known me since I was born. I'll let her know. Is there anyone else not back?" She let concern flood her voice and her visible emotions and could feel him relenting. She had known for years how to get on the good side of Filch – if only her brother had figured it out as well. She enjoyed being one of the few castle residents who could bend the old sourpuss to her will.

"Alright. Just this once, Missy, and it's only 'cause my joints ache somethin' awful. No, there isn't anyone else," he acknowledged.

"Thanks, Mr Filch!" Brigida called out as she and Rena headed back up the short flight of marble steps to the doors to the Great Hall. They hurried down the central aisle towards the head table and went around the far edge of it to circle around to her father's chair. While she had told Filch she would let the headmistress know about her missing sister, she felt her duty was to let her father know first.

Severus eyed his younger daughter and Rena Wells approach up the aisle. He could feel that something was wrong, and the look on his daughter's face bode ill.

Brigida stood by his chair and leaned in to whisper to him. "Da, Alisha never made it back from Hogsmeade. I just checked with Mr Filch." Severus flinched at the news, and McGonagall beside him turned to join in the conversation.

"What has happened, Miss Snape?" she interjected before Severus could utter a word. He shot a warning glance at his superior.

"Alisha, Grandma; she didn't make it back this afternoon." McGonagall's eyes went wide, and sharing a look with Severus she turned to Harry on her other side. "Harry – Remus, you too – we have a situation. Severus, Esme and you as well, Miss Snape and Miss Wells – let's go to my office and sort this out." The group trooped out the staff door to murmurings in the hall as the students noticed the mass staff exodus, and took the back way to the head's office.

When they were all seated around her desk, Minerva skewered her great niece with a look over her glasses.

"Well, Brigida, tell me from the beginning." Severus rose up and came to stand behind his daughter's seat, placing his hands on her shoulders to give her some moral support.

Brigida took a big breath, grateful for her father's strong presence bolstering her. "Alisha was supposed to get me some more Frogs from Honeydukes today and never showed back up. So, I went down to dinner thinking to catch up with her there. When I got to the hall, the girls said she hadn't returned with them; that she had forgotten the chocolate and had gone back to Honeydukes to get it and told them to go on ahead. I checked with Mr Filch, and she is the only one not to come back." She settled back in her chair, letting her dad run his hands soothingly over her hair as she tried to stifle back the tears that were threatening to overwhelm her as she worried over her sister. His ministrations helped, but the panic was still causing her chest to hurt.

Minerva turned her attention to Rena. "Miss Wells, what can you add to this?"

"Not much, ma'am. Only that she was going to take an alley shortcut over to the sweets shop." She was visibly shaking like a leaf, as she looked the headmistress in the eyes. She was obviously scared and worried for her friend.

Harry leaned forward. "Can you show us where she took the shortcut, Rena," he asked gently, not wanting to frighten the girl any further.

Rena looked over at the Defence teacher and nodded in the affirmative. She looked as if she would start crying soon if she tried to talk anymore. Esme came over and gathered the girl in her arms to comfort her, gently whispering encouragement in her ears. They could hear Rena mumbling, "I knew it didn't feel right, I just knew it!" When Rena calmed down, Esme returned to her seat next to Lupin.

Severus gave his daughter's shoulder a squeeze to get her attention, and she swivelled in her chair to look up at him questioningly.

"I want you to go find your brother and then join your mother, Becca and A.J. at home," he said to her. Severus looked over at the couch where Esme and Remus were sitting. "I don't think I need to tell you how dangerous this could be. Keep the children safe, and we'll be back as soon as we can. Miss Wells, let's go get your cloak and we'll meet Professors Potter and Lupin in the main entry. Remus, do you think Tonks would be of any help?"

"It's been awhile since she was an Auror, Severus. Harry has the more recent experience," his friend pointed out. Severus nodded his acceptance of the information.

Brigida swallowed hard as she listened to the adults around her. She watched as Rena rose from her chair and followed her Da out the door to head back to the Ravenclaw dorms and then as Professor Potter and Uncle Remus followed after him, each stopping by Esme to say an encouraging word to her. Esme eventually glanced up at her daughter and seeing the anguish and worry on the girl's face, opened up her arms. Bree gave a little cry and launched herself from her chair onto her mother's lap, letting the soothing sounds of her mother wash over her as she sobbed into the woman's shoulder, letting all her fears out. Minerva came over and sat on the other side of Bree, gently rubbing her back as the girl spent her tears. She quietly offered her grandniece a hanky when it looked as if she had calmed down, and Bree accepted with a little embarrassed grin, although she didn't immediately leave the comfort of her mum's lap.

"Right. Esme, you need to get back to your youngest. I'll take Brigida over to Gryffindor tower to find her twin, and we'll meet you back at your rooms," Minerva suggested.

"Thanks, Auntie. I'll see you in a few minutes, honey," Esme said to her daughter as she helped her stand back up. "Don't worry; your Da, Uncle Remus and Professor Potter will find Alisha. I promise you that!" She gave her daughter a hug. "You watch; she'll be home by curfew. I bet she got sidetracked by some book and just lost track of the time. They'll run into her as she's walking home."

"Sure, Mum." But Brigida was far from convinced, and as cheerful and confident as she sounded, she knew her mum really didn't believe what she had said either.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – The Search

"It was over here, Professor," Rena said as they walked quickly to the alley where she and the others had parted from Alisha that afternoon. They hadn't run into Alisha walking home, and the closer they got to the village, the grimmer it was looking for the lost Ravenclaw. The alley looked even more menacing in the evening gloom than it had in the late afternoon light. Severus came up to her with his wand out pointing down the entrance to the alley. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and nudged her to stand nearer to a street lamp.

"Thank you, Miss Wells. Stay here please, while we check out the alley." She wrapped her cloak more tightly around her against the bitter night air and stood underneath the gaslight. The group had already checked at Honeydukes and quickly determined that Alisha had never made it to her destination. Three muttered _Lumos_ lit up the alley. Thankfully, this was not a well-trodden route, and the snow had captured much of what had occurred.

The wizards carefully traced Alisha's boot prints to the mid-point in the alley where another set of footprints was revealed near a bin. A depression in the snow showed where she had landed face first. Severus knelt by the imprint of his daughter's face, letting his fingers lightly trace the features captured therein. He cast his gaze about the rest of the alley, but no more footprints were visible beyond this point. He noticed Harry taking some wand readings of the area and the attacker's prints.

"Well, Potter?" he spat out as he stood back up, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He didn't see Remus flinch as the old Snape persona snapped back into place with Severus' worry over his eldest's welfare.

Harry chose to ignore the tone of voice. He could understand what his old teacher was feeling right now; he would feel the same way if it were one of his children. In fact, it was amazing that this had not happened before now. It was not looking good, and his report was not going to be pleasant to hear. He straightened up from where he was crouched by the set of prints near the bin.

"I'm sorry, Severus. As you can tell, she was felled by a binding curse of some sort and then transported away by either Portkey or Apparition. My guess would be Portkey. Her attacker then Apparated after she was gone; it's as if they had her targeted, but for what – I don't know." Harry took a deep breath. "What is your knowledge on the current workings of your former associates?" he asked as he led the group back down the alley but stopped as Remus placed a hand to stop them. "What is it, Remus?" Harry asked quietly. Snape turned around to stare at the werewolf.

"A scent. I've smelled it before… a long time ago…" He looked over at his friends. "It's not Alisha. I smell her, yes, but this is different. It goes back to the first war…" He dropped his hand from Harry's arm and headed back into the alley, closing his eyes and letting his nose lead the way. It was close to the full moon, only forty-eight more hours before transformation and his senses were near their highest acuity. The other two men turned around and watched him as he cased the area.

Eventually, he reached the body print and bent to sniff the ground where the attacker had stood, but shook his head and walked over to the bin area. He got up close to the wall closing his eyes and sniffing some more, looking uncannily like a two-legged dog. He bent down for a moment then straightened back up to push the bin further down the alley away from the site. He bent back down and picked up a piece of rubbish from the ground. He stood back up, grinning, and walked back to where Snape and Harry stood.

"I knew it! The person who attacked her was Ambrose Parrish. He always had this smell about him, even in school – very distinct body odour." He made a moue of disgust at the memory. "He always ate only one kind of candy." He flourished the chocolate wrapper that he had picked up from the ground. "He only ate Muggle chocolate bars. Nasty habit that, and it was just one of the things that kept him low on the Death Eater totem pole. Do you even remember him, Severus?" The men resumed their walk back to the alley entrance and the waiting Rena Wells.

"Vaguely," Snape acknowledged. "A Slytherin a couple of years behind us? Never really very clean in appearance – don't roll your eyes, Potter, mine was an act and his was for real - and you are correct, he was quite low in ranking. I don't remember much else about him, however." They had reached the entryway and walked over to the shivering fourth-year under the lamppost. By unspoken consent the wizards agreed not to let Rena know their speculations other than the fact that Alisha had been kidnapped.

"Oh, Merlin, I knew something bad was going to happen. I should've stayed with her!" she whimpered as they headed back towards the castle.

"Then you would most likely be sharing her fate, Miss Wells, " Snape pointed out sharply. She hung her head miserably. "By virtue of being a Snape, my daughter has had training beyond that of most fourth-years. I feel confident that she can handle herself until we can locate her whereabouts." At least he hoped she could. He would not let his worry show to this girl, however.

As they approached the castle gates, Harry Apparated to Auror headquarters to search their records for last known locations of one Ambrose Parrish. Remus and Severus escorted Rena to Flitwick, letting him know what was going on and placing the responsibility for informing the Ravenclaws on his capable, if tiny, shoulders. They then headed to Severus' rooms where they knew Minerva would be waiting with the rest of the family.

Gustav looked very worried as he opened the door. "I hope you find her soon, sir," he mentioned. Snape murmured a thank you as he held the door open for Remus. Both families were gathered in his parlour, the children sitting quietly on the floor attempting to do homework to keep their minds off of the situation. The women were scattered on the seats, cups of cold, untouched tea sat nearby. A.J. was asleep in Minerva's lap and Tonks' little Benjamin was in a playpen, happily oblivious to the atmosphere in the room and pulling himself around the boundaries of his enclosure. Wizby was in a corner, moaning to herself and wringing her hands and ears.

Remus went to sit on the edge of his wife's chair after picking up his youngest son to cuddle, and Severus went to stand in front of the Floo.

"Miss Wells was able to show us which alley Alisha took to cut through. She never made it to Honeydukes; she was abducted from the alley by a low-level Death Eater named Ambrose Parrish. I'll explain later how we know that," he said quickly, cutting off McGonagall's obvious attempt to question him. She snapped her mouth shut and nodded sharply, eyes blazing. She would, indeed, question him later.

"Harry has gone to Auror headquarters to check out the files. Tonks, as you are familiar with the time period Ambrose was most active, Harry requests that you join him there to help with the search."

"Of course, Severus." She rose quickly and headed toward the door, tripping over a snag in the rug. She managed to catch herself before falling completely to the floor and giving the room a bemused grimace, exited to gather her own cloak and head to the Ministry.

"What are you and Remus going to do now?" Esme asked her husband. She had her new kitten in her lap and was stroking the poor thing a bit too hard in her agitation. The half-kneazle eventually reached around and nipped her thumb before jumping off, its tail held haughtily in the air.

"It shouldn't take Harry long to track down a location for Ambrose, then Remus and I will pay him a visit. I don't think that she will be there; I'll be surprised if she is, but it will be a start. I'm going to go get changed and get some potions ready for when we do find her. If we don't find her until Remus has transformed, I don't know…" He looked over at his best friend.

"Take me with you. I'm totally harmless these days, but they won't know that." He gave a decidedly evil wolfish grin at the thought of facing the abductors in werewolf guise. Snape matched his grin with one of his own.

"That's that, then. We'll travel together in any case." He began to head across the room to change into travelling gear, but was stopped by Emrys.

"Da, can we stay here?" the young boy pleaded.

Severus thought a moment. Years ago, he would have thought it a bit of sentimental rubbish for children to be coddled at a time like this; especially Wizarding children. But nearly twelve years of parenting had taught him otherwise. "Yes, son, you can stay here. But I want you children to still attend classes as usual if we do not find her by Monday."

'Yes, sir' and 'Of course, Da' was chorused from around the room. He smiled to himself as he continued on his trek to the master bedroom.

He was not surprised when Esme slipped in behind him, closing the door, a few moments later. She walked into his waiting arms, and they stood there a moment in shared misery. Eventually, she wiped her eyes and taking the lapels of his robe in her hands, stared up at him, a fierce and determined look flashing in her green eyes.

"You find her, do you hear me? You find her, and bring her home! I don't care what you do to those people, just bring her safe back home to us." Her voice caught on a sob, and Severus bent down to kiss her gently.

"I promise, Esmerelda. I'll do everything in my power to find her. They're doing this to hurt me, you know. I can feel it." He gathered her closer to him as he reflected on how much he already missed his daughter. They had chosen the one thing to mess with that was guaranteed to raise his ire. Of course this could all be a trap just for him, but he wasn't going to mention that to Esme, especially if she hadn't already thought of it herself.

"Don't let them, then," she said fiercely. "This is just a pathetic manoeuvre by pathetic men."

"I know, Esme, I know." He held her a moment longer until he heard a soft knock at the door. Remus' muffled voice came through the crack.

"Severus? Harry just flooed; they have a location for Parrish."

"I'll be right there, Lupin." He kissed his wife one more time, then, shrinking his potions box and placing it in his robe pocket, left to join Remus in the parlour.

"We're to Apparate to the Ministry first, and Harry and Dora will give us the location there. We can also pick up some more gear while there." The two men retrieved their cloaks and headed back out the door to a murmured 'Good Luck' from Gustav.

The two men stalked the halls of the Ministry with a determined stride and their faces set in grimaces. Ministry lackeys scurried out of the way as the two strode to the Auror offices. Severus was in full Snape-as-the-dungeon's-bat mode; face set in scowl and cloak billowing in his wake. He heard, but did not acknowledge, several squeaks from former students as they pressed themselves up against the walls to keep out of their path. Remus, on the other hand, was radiating barely controlled rage. His fists balled at his side, he easily kept pace with his lankier friend, matching him stride for stride.

They barged into the office where Harry and Tonks were assembling some gear to help in finding Alisha. They knew she would not be at Parrish's hole, but he should be able to give them a starting place to find her. Harry silently handed Severus a pack, which Severus opened to inspect before accepting and shrinking it to join the potions box in his pockets. Tonks and Remus had moved to a corner of the room to have a whispered moment.

Harry looked over at his former teacher. "Several other Aurors have already gone on ahead to make sure he doesn't leave. They know not to do anything until we get there." Snape grunted. "Severus, this could all be a trap," Harry pointed out.

"I know that, Potter!" he growled. "But this is personal. I need to be there when we get her out."

"I know, I would feel the same way about one of my kids. I just needed to point it out. It has been so long since they've done something this blatant. Any ideas on motive?"

"Other than making me hurt for betraying them? No. But I'm sure that is not the only reason – just a convenient by-product of whatever they are up to. As I don't truly associate with any of those people anymore, I have no clue as to what they are thinking." He snorted at the thought. Most of them didn't think, just followed. So who was the ringleader now? Most of the old crowd was either dead or rotting in Azkaban. He looked thoughtfully over at Harry. "Anyone escape recently from Azkaban?"

"Not that I've heard, and Shacklebolt normally keeps me apprised of things like that. Why? Do you think this may be masterminded by one of them?"

"It's possible. I just can't think of anyone with enough brains left on the outside that would be stupid enough to attempt this. Whereas there are several still alive in Azkaban who are that idiotic."

"Hmmm. Well, let's see what Parrish has to say first, then we'll go from there." Harry looked over at Remus and Tonks. "Are you two ready? It's time to go."

Remus hopped off of a desk and led his wife over to where Harry and Snape stood. Harry grabbed the Portkey that had been sitting near him, and they all reached out to place a hand on the copy of the _Daily Prophet_.

Harry eyed his watch and counted down. "Three, two, one!" They all felt the familiar yanking behind the navel as the Portkey sucked them away to Mr Parrish's abode.

The group landed in a darkened alley in a seedy little town, and Remus held on to his wife as she stumbled a bit.

"I hate Portkeying," she mumbled.

"You and me both, Tonks!" Harry commiserated as he righted himself from his own stumble. "Give me a broom any day. Ah, here's Shacklebolt," he whispered.

"Harry," Kingsley muttered in greeting. "Snape, Lupin, Tonks," he quietly acknowledged the rest in turn. "We have the shack surrounded and an anti-Apparition ward around the place; it's just around the corner." He pointed with his non-wand hand. "He's still in there. How do you want to handle this, Snape?"

Snape thought a moment, his arms crossed in front of him and head down studying the damp cobblestones beneath his feet. Finally, he raised his head and looked at the Auror. "Have the Aurors go in first and secure him and the house; we'll follow afterwards." The Auror nodded once and led them around the corner. Giving a signal with his arm, the Aurors followed their leader in storming the house. A shouted _Alohamora_ was heard, and the door blasted open allowing four men to enter with their wands drawn. The quartet outside heard banging, curses and hexes thrown and finally, silence.

Kingsley shouted out the door that they could come in now, and the four strode into the centre room of the house. The room consisted of four dirty grey walls with peeling paper, punctuated by equally grey and dingy windows that had yellowing and stained parchment blinds covering them. A bare Muggle light bulb lit the room from the ceiling, and it only served to emphasise the shabbiness of the hovel. Parrish was bound to the only chair in the room with magical ropes, and his face went ashen-white when he saw Snape flow into the room.

"Ambrose," came the deceptive oil-over-silk voice. "I see you know why we are here." He walked up to the man and leaned down to get right in the Death Eater's face. "Where. Is. My. Daughter?" He snapped out each word, throwing spittle as he did so. Parrish winced as the phlegm hit him in the eyes.

"I – I – I d-d-d-d-don't know!" he managed to choke out. "I was given a p-p-p-Portkey and told to abduct her. I swear I don't know where it took her! You've got to believe me, Severus!" He cringed, trying to keep himself as far away from Snape as he could, given he was tied up to the chair.

"Believe you? I can barely stand to look at you, Parrish." He stood back a step and studied the pathetic imbecile in front of him, letting his nose wrinkle at the peculiar body odour that marked the man. "Who gave the key to you?"

The man mumbled something, looking down at his feet, not daring to look Snape in the face.

Remus caught the man by the hair, yanking it back, which forced him to look up again. "What did you say, Ambrose? We didn't hear you," he snarled.

"M-M-M-Malfoy!" the man gasped out.

Snape looked quickly over at Shacklebolt. "I thought he died in Azkaban?"

Kingsley frowned. "He did…" They all looked at Parrish as he shook his head violently.

"No, no, no. Not him," he emphasised, his voice squeaking in fear. "Her. Narcissa." Remus released the man's hair with a muttered oath, and the other three had a quick intake of air. Snape swung back in front of him.

"That's impossible!" he roared in anger. "You're delusional! Narcissa died thirteen years ago at the hand of the Dark Lord," he said incredulously. "I was there, Parrish!" But the little man kept shaking his head.

"No, no – it was a poly-juiced Lucius the Dark Lord murdered. He and Narcissa switched places early in his incarceration. Got the idea from Crouch." He looked up at Snape, spittle dribbling from one side of his mouth as he told his tale. "When he was killed, she could no longer get the poly-juice. They had this cont…" He stumbled over the word as Snape stood over him, eyes black and hard as diamonds.

"Contingency plan?" he offered with a low snarl.

Parrish nodded in agreement. "Right, that. A plan. They had made a Draught of Living Death just in case. So when she ran out of juice, she took the Draught. The guards all thought Lucius was dead, you see? So they buried the body. Well, they only dig very shallow graves, and when she woke up, she dug herself out and escaped the island. She's been laying low all these years but gathering together her forces." He tried to sit up straighter in his chair, but one look from Snape and he fell in on himself, cowering again.

"Of course…" Severus drawled. "' Revenge is best served cold.' Eh, Narcissa?" he pondered aloud. He began pacing around the room. Parrish tried to follow him with his eyes, but it was impossible to follow him totally, and the man seemed to cringe even more when he heard Snape walking behind him, kicking up puffs of dirt with his boots.

"But what does she want with my daughter? This is more than just simple revenge, Ambrose, what's her game? What do you know?" He was standing in front of the man again, leaning in to get up close and personal. Parrish whimpered as Snape leaned in even further, caressing the tip of his wand down the side of the prisoner's face.

"Nothing, Severus, I swear! I don't know anything!" The words came out in a barely audible whimper as the man began to feel cold sweat pour down his face.

"We shall see, Ambrose," said Snape in his cruellest tone yet. "We shall see."

Ambrose silently wet himself as Snape's gaze tunnelled into his eyes and an evil leer spread the former Death Eater's lips apart as the smell of warm urine filled the room.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – The Cell

Alisha slowly opened her sticky eyes to complete darkness. No, not quite complete, there was a thin sliver of light along the floor across from her. A door. She did not move yet, as she slowly took stock of how her body felt inside and out, as her father had taught her. Her first impression was that she was cold. She could still feel her clothes around her, but her cloak was gone. She ached something awful, and her legs and arms felt injured in some way. She tried moving each limb, but the pain nearly made her pass out as she felt bone grate on bone. So, they were broken. It felt as if her chest, too, had been kicked or beaten as it hurt to take any deep breath. When she moved her head, she could feel sore spots all around it, and her face felt bruised and scraped as well. Torture. Whoever had kidnapped her had tortured her. But why? She didn't know anything that would be worth something to someone.

She tried to remember how she had gotten into this predicament. She remembered going shopping in Hogsmeade with her friends and turning down the alley to cut over to Honeydukes. Try as she might, though, she could not remember anything after that point. She began to shiver on the cold stone floor, and giving in to the exhaustion, was soon unconscious again.

A bucketful of cold water thrown on her, shocked her awake sometime later with a gasp.

"Good work, Tuttle. Now leave us," a cold haughty voice said.

"Yes, mistress." The sound of a pop was heard as the small squeaky voice apparently Disapparated.

"You can open your eyes; I know you are awake," came the disdainful voice above her. Alisha slowly opened her eyes. In front of her, with a conjured ball of light hanging near her shoulder, was a tall, thin woman with patrician features gone to seed and lank, pale hair that hung to her waist. She had her wand pointed down at Alisha. Alisha knew who the woman was; everyone in the Wizarding world knew her.

"Narcissa Malfoy," she managed to whisper between her dry and cracked lips. She was desperately thirsty and hungry now, and colder than before with the water that had been thrown on her. She tried to lick some of the moisture off of her face, but couldn't get much. "I thought you were dead," she croaked.

"Very good, Miss Snape. Yes, everyone is under that impression. Well, they were wrong!" A high cruel laugh rang across the tiny cell as she enjoyed her own private amusement. She knelt down so that she could look Alisha better in the face. "Hmmm, I see that my boys were a little enthusiastic with their hexes. Now we can't have that, can we? Tuttle!" She stood back up as she screeched for the house-elf. A distinct pop was heard.

"Yes, mistress?" Alisha could just barely make out a cringing female house-elf that had Apparated to stand near her mistress. Her pillowcase was patched and torn in several places and was grey with years of ground in dirt. Her ears drooped and her hands and toes had multiple plasters on them, obviously covering up previous punishments.

"Let us get some potions into Miss Snape. Bring me some Skele-Gro, and some bruise lotion. We can't have her looking like this for her denouement." She shot an evil, slightly insane grin at Alisha.

"Of course, mistress." The elf bowed, twisting its hands together.

"Oh, and Tuttle?"

"Yes, mistress?" The elf paused in mid snap.

"Make sure the potions come from Severus' old batches." This time she chuckled at her little private joke.

The elf nodded her understanding and Disapparated.

Alisha remembered one of her father's lessons: Keep the enemy talking. "Why have you kidnapped me?" She figured she might as well start with the obvious question.

"Well, to hurt your father for one." Narcissa whirled back to face her captive. "He failed me, you see. He didn't protect my Draco!" Her voice took on the high singsong aspect of the mentally unbalanced. "He let him get hurt and die. Then he took my husband away from me and finally, he betrayed our Lord!" she growled. "Our Lord trusted him right up until the end, and Snape turned on him." She pouted as she started pacing the chamber, the little ball of light following her like a puppy dog, illuminating the dank stone walls. Now Alisha could see the rough stones that made up the floor she lay on. Dirt was everywhere, and the water now made a thin slurry of mud in her little corner. "So, I am going to use you to bring Him back!" she declared to the broken Ravenclaw.

Alisha was stunned, but she had to keep the woman talking. "You've lost me; bring whom back?"

"The Dark Lord." She waved her hands above her as she continued speaking, eyes seeing off into the distance. "On the full moon in two days, the stars will be aligned just right to perform the ritual that will bring our Lord back to us. And you? Well, you will become the vessel for our Lord!" Her face took on the aspect of one in rapture at the prospect of seeing Voldemort again. Alisha moaned, inwardly she thought, but apparently not as Narcissa turned back to her again.

"Where is that naughty elf? Tuttle!" she screeched.

"Here I am, mistress!" The elf popped back into the room, abject terror on her face as she approached Narcissa. "I'm sorry it took so long. Tuttle bad elf. Tuttle will go iron her hands now." She handed the bottles to her mistress and snapped herself out of the room, resignation and fear evident in the look she gave Narcissa before leaving.

"You do that, you little toerag," she mumbled. She stalked over to Alisha and grabbing the girl's mouth, squeezed it open to pour the potion down her throat. Alisha gagged and spluttered, but most of the disgusting mixture went down, and she could feel her bones slowly re-knitting themselves. Narcissa threw the jar of ointment at Alisha's feet. "When you can move again, use that to clear your bruising." She turned towards the door, taking the ball of light with her. Rapping her knuckles on the door, it was opened from the outside and she left the girl, still lying in the puddle of mud.

* * *

Remus was tired, but he stayed awake as Severus, Kingsley and Harry discussed the information they had gleaned from their interrogation of Ambrose Parrish. As far as useful information went, it fell quite short. But beggars could not be choosy. After the questioning, the Aurors had taken Parrish into custody, and the team of four along with Shacklebolt had handed Alisha's wand to Severus, which they had found in Ambrose's bedroom, and headed back to Snape's quarters at Hogwarts to discuss the ramifications of what they had obtained. Tonks had eventually gone to bed, taking her children off of Esme's hands. Remus rubbed his hands over his face and felt the stubble of his beard – quite long now with less than twenty-four hours to go until moonrise. He leaned back in towards the table to listen more intently to the conversation.

"We need to get over to Malfoy Manor to cast for signs of Alisha," Kingsley was pointing out.

Harry and Snape were both shaking their heads. "I've told you, Shacklebolt," Snape growled. "She won't be there. Narcissa is smart enough to know that we will search there first. No, she is keeping her somewhere else. She wants her for some sort of ritual – but what?"

"There isn't any astronomical date anytime soon, is there? Besides the full moon?" Harry asked, casting a glance in Moony's direction. "Death Eaters love exploiting those days for their rituals."

Remus shrugged, searching his mind. There _was_ something, now that he thought about it. One of his students a few days ago had commented on it. He held up a hand to halt the conversation as he closed his eyes to concentrate on that niggling thought. Now what had been the circumstances of that class…Right, he had it. Fifth-year Defence class with the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. Fannie Potts and Mitchell Brewer had gotten into an argument about tomorrow night's significance; not only was it a full moon, but - Fannie had pointed out - it was also…

"Conjunction!" he fairly shouted from his seat. The other three men stared at him as if he had gone around the bend. He opened his eyes and blushed under the scrutiny. "Sorry, but _that's_ the significance. That is why she is choosing tomorrow night; a planetary conjunction – and not just any conjunction. All of the planets will be aligned as well as being a full moon!"

Severus looked stunned and he quickly looked from his friend to his former student. "Do you remember that obscure passage we came across in those old scrolls we found several years ago when we raided that house in Wales? You brought me in because there were so many dark writings that had been stored in the hidden room in the cellar?" Harry hooded his eyes as he thought back, then snapped his eyes to his colleague. "That bizarre ritual to bring back the dead? You can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am, Potter. You see, I remember a similar scroll in the Malfoy library." He leaned closer to the man sitting next to him. "Think about it, who would Narcissa want to bring back so badly she would use such a ritual? And the sky positions are correct tomorrow night."

"She wouldn't dare bring back Draco!" Harry protested. But Snape shook his head hard, causing his hair to swing wildly. "Not Draco; Tom." He looked at each of the men in turn as he elaborated. "The Death Eaters are without clear leadership. The leaders are either dead or locked up and as good as dead. They won't follow Narcissa for long, and she knows it; she is not a strong enough witch to hold their loyalties. No, she needs to bring back their one and only true leader, Voldemort."

"She can't, I destroyed his souls – all seven of them. What would occupy the body? Oh, no…"

"Exactly, you only really destroyed six of them. Without the Horcruxes binding his remaining soul to the earth, you were able to kill him, releasing the seventh bit to the afterlife. Calling him back from the dead would mean the ability to reconstitute that last small bit of soul, into a whole new body. That is what she needs my daughter for; to offer a sacrifice for the Dark Lord to occupy." He looked over at the other two men. "The ritual that Potter and I found uses the body of a virgin to offer up a clean soul for the dead to possess, conquer and reanimate the new body. The pull of the planets and the full moon in alignment makes the crossover of the dead soul – or in this case what pitiful bits of it remain – to this plane of existence that much easier. It thins out the veil between the realm of the dead and that of the living." He leaned back in his chair, obviously as exhausted as the rest of the team. "So, now we have a good idea what she is probably going to do, the only question left is where. Any ideas, gentlemen?"

None were forthcoming and Snape grumbled in frustration. Abruptly he got up and began to pace around his parlour. When still no suggestions were forthcoming, he headed down the hallway to check on his sleeping family.

Rebecca was sharing her room with her brothers and Brigida, all of them needing the comfort. He gently made the rounds of the beds, tucking in here, straightening out a limb there. He left the room with the intention of checking on his wife, but found himself at Alisha's room instead.

He waved a hand at the torches and they sprung to life, illuminating the treasures belonging to his eldest. Several bookshelves contained old schoolbooks as well as favourite books of fiction. On her desk were various awards won in several competitions that the Ravenclaws held amongst themselves. He took a moment to rifle through them before placing them back down. On her bed, in place of honour, was the teddy bear she had brought with her from the orphanage. Tattered even more than when he originally had seen it, it still looked very much loved and adored by its owner. Tears carefully mended, fur rubbed raw in places, he felt sure that it quietly awaited its mistress' return. He sank down on the bed and carefully took the teddy in his hands. After a few quiet moments, he kissed the teddy bear on its forehead and with a careful pat, replaced it back into its honoured spot.

Heading back to the parlour and past the dead-ended group of men sitting around his table, he grabbed his cloak and headed towards the door. "I need a walk to clear my head. I'll be back in a while." He flung his cloak around his shoulders and slammed his way through the door, flinging it closed behind him.

Three a.m. in the castle was a quiet time, and Snape had a clear passage through the corridors and out the main doors of the school. He walked down across the lawn and headed towards the lake. The nearly full moon was hanging low in the sky and shone across the waters, eventually landing on the luminescent marble of Dumbledore's final resting place. Severus spared a glance for the tomb but walked to the lake and stood there, in the cold still air, watching his breath mist in front of him and thinking of all the places that Narcissa would find significant enough to use for the ritual. It just had to be that ritual; he felt it was the only thing that made sense with Ambrose's information and the timing of it all.

His thoughts wandered to his missing girl. How trusting she had been that first day he had met her, clambering into his lap at the orphanage and handing him her bear to kiss. When they had finally been able to take her home with them that summer, she had been enamoured with the twins. She helped Esme with them, as much as a three-year-old could. And meeting Wizby! What a sight that had been. The two of them were about the same height, and Alisha had just stared at the elf for a good five minutes in part awe and part confusion. She then asked Esme if this was another sister. Wizby's eyes had gotten huge, and she quickly corrected the little girl – but the two had bonded very quickly after that.

He remembered her being so proud when she had first learned all her letters, then read her first words, and finally how ecstatic she had been when she had gotten her blue primary robes for studying with Professor Weasley. His mind jumped the intervening years to her sorting and how proud he had been when the hat had announced "Ravenclaw!" He saw in his mind's eye the beautiful and bold face of his eldest daughter; blue eyes twinkling, black curly hair floating around her face like a storm cloud, how her smile always reached, and lit up her eyes, in merriment.

He lost all track of time as he stood there and only became aware of his surroundings and the approach of dawn when he heard a soft hoot behind him. He automatically put his left arm out for the eagle owl to land upon. She mantled her wings a bit as she caught her lover's arm with her claws, and he slowly brought his arm in to cradle her against his chest; gentle stroking his hand along her head and back, feeling the soft warmth of her feathers. She leaned into the stroking for a few minutes, but eventually turned her head to nip at his fingertips and he walked back to the tomb and set her on the marble top. Esme slowly transformed in the moonlight, and he handed her down to the ground.

"We've had a visitor at the castle," she announced. "One of the lost has come home, Severus; Derek Constantine is here."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – The Traitor

Derek Constantine sat in the head's office and looked around him. The portraits were all feigning sleep except for Dumbledore, who was humming quietly to himself and sucking on a piece of candy. Every now and then he snuck a sideways look at the young man, but did not utter a word, content to let the former Slytherin contemplate his life's actions.

Derek had been to this room several times as a student for various reasons, but none like this. He felt a cold sweat run down his back as he thought about what he was doing; betraying his friends. But were they his friends? How could someone be a friend who would kidnap a young girl and beat her until her bones broke, just for the fun of it? He had watched her grow up in the castle, her and her siblings. They were his Head of House's children! _Oh Merlin, Snape!_ The man had tried to talk him out of joining; he recognised that now. And he had been right. He dropped his face into his hands hoping to block out the images in his mind, but it didn't work. He dropped his hands back into his lap again.

He twisted the robes in his hands in consternation. McGonagall had let him into her office and had gone off to summon someone. He could take a wild guess as to whom she was getting to come and talk with him, especially with the information he told her he had to impart. He had been sitting here now for almost an hour, waiting for the headmistress to return. He had walked around the office confines a few times, tried the door and had found it warded shut, as well as the Floo and the windows. So, even if he had wanted to change his mind and return, he couldn't. He was well and truly stuck on this course of action.

Why had he ever thought that joining with the darker wizards was a good choice? He hadn't been into the dark arts much in school – although most of his family had been Voldemort supporters. He had pretty much just skated through school with decent marks, more than enough OWLs and a respectable handful of NEWTs. He had been much too complacent about his life choices. His father had promised him that furthering his associations with 'the old crowd' would advance his career in his solicitor practice. His father had always managed his life - picking his friends before Hogwarts, ensuring he always attended the right parties, met the right people - and it had seemed natural to follow him into business as well – which meant joining the select group of men his father hung around. Obviously, now, that had been a mistake.

Another quarter of an hour, and he noticed the sky brightening outside the leaded window glass. He heard several feet climbing the stairs behind the door and steeled himself for the conversation ahead.

McGonagall entered the room followed by Professors Snape and Lupin, and – he gulped as he saw the third person – Harry Potter. McGonagall took her seat behind the massive wooden desk that dominated the centre of her office, placing her clasped hands in front of her on the mahogany top, and the other three men arrayed themselves behind her, assuming attitudes of watchfulness.

"Gentlemen, Mr Constantine arrived about an hour ago stating that he had news for us," Minerva began. "So, Derek, what do you know about Miss Snape's abduction?"

Derek looked from one man to another, returning to direct his words at Snape. "Sir, I'm sorry. You were right last year. I was a fool to have joined." Snape glowered down at his former student.

"You are not the first, Mr Constantine, nor will you be the last to make that error in judgement. You have come to your senses now?"

"Yes, sir. I can see now the lies they have been trying to feed me. When I saw your daughter brought in… well, it was the last straw." He dropped his head in his hands and groaned.

"Where is she, Derek?" Remus asked. "We need to know where Narcissa is holding her."

"That's the thing, I don't know. We use Portkeys to get there. But I know where the ritual will be tonight and at what time." He shook his head for a moment then looked at the group in front of him. "I couldn't get to her. If I could've, I would have Apparated her out of there. I swear it!"

Snape looked at Derek for a moment as if contemplating his next move. "Mr Constantine, I am sure you will understand why I will request this." He turned to Harry. "Potter, I have in my pockets a bottle of Veritaserum. I believe you are still an Auror in Reserve and can legally administer the potion?"

"Of course, Severus," Harry acknowledged.

"Mr Constantine, will you submit to Veritaserum as administered by Professor Potter?"

Derek did not hesitate. If it would help in any way, he would take any potion Snape would ask him to partake. "Yes, sir," he swiftly answered.

Snape took the bottle out of his robes and handed it to Harry who came around the desk to administer the three drops on Derek's tongue. They waited for the telltale glazing to occur in his eyes, and then Harry started the interrogation.

* * *

A pop in the air near her left hand alerted Alisha to the pan of cold gruel that had appeared again in her cell. She scrambled for the pan and upended the contents into her mouth. There wasn't much – just enough to keep her alive. This had been the third pan she had received this way since Narcissa had healed her fractures. She had no idea as to how much time had elapsed since her kidnapping. She put the pan down and another pop heralded its disappearance. Since Narcissa had left, she had not seen a single person or creature in her cell. When she had been able to move her limbs, she had applied the bruise cream all over her body – using up what was left in the jar. Then she had taken to explore her cell by touch, trying to find a possible way out of her predicament. But there was nothing. The cell, while old and dirty, was still well constructed. Not a chink in the mortar, and the door was well warded and could only be opened from the outside.

Now, as soon as the pan had disappeared, the door to her cell opened and she had to shield her eyes from the glare of the _Lumos_ at the end of Narcissa's wand. As she became accustomed to the light, she saw the woman was arrayed in white ritual robes, her hair washed and dressed and makeup covered the ravages of time on her face.

"My, my, my… we can't have you facing our Lord looking like that! Stand up!" Her voice had the command of an _Imperio_ behind it and Alisha struggled to resist, but in her weakened state was forced to comply and shakily stood up to face her jailer. A few muttered spells from Narcissa, and her torn clothes were repaired and cleaned and her body had been _Scourgified_ as well.

Narcissa walked slowly over to the girl and paced around her as she verified that the girl was presentable for the ritual. Alisha shivered involuntarily as Narcissa made her circuit; the woman terrified her. But her Da had been teaching her the basics of Occlumency recently, and she knew that those lessons would be helpful in maintaining her stoicism throughout this ordeal. She tried to blank her mind and fill her surface thoughts with bits of trivia while keeping track of Narcissa with her eyes.

The witch stopped in front of her again, reaching out a manicured claw of a hand to tilt Alisha's chin from one side to the other making little mewing sounds as she did so. Alisha forced herself to stay still, but it was hard to do with the feel of Narcissa's sharp nails biting into her skin. What she really wanted was to kick, scream, spit in Narcissa's face and tear the hair from the woman's head. But that would only make things worse – much worse – and she wanted to be alive when her Da saved her, at least she intended to be alive… she gave herself a mental shake; defeatist attitudes would not save her. She steeled herself and concentrated more fully on her captor.

"Yessss… this should do. Walk in front of me, girl, and don't try anything heroic!" Narcissa pushed Alisha in front of her, and feeling the stab of a wand in the middle of her back, the Ravenclaw stumbled a bit before regaining her balance and walking to the open door. She took no notice of the guard outside, just kept her eyes straight ahead of her.

The guard fell into place behind Narcissa at her beckoning, and the three of them made their way along the dank corridors of the dungeon until they reached a set of wooden stairs. The guard moved up next to Alisha and, grabbing her arm above the elbow, urged her up the stairs. The door at the landing opened onto a dark crevasse in the stone. Narcissa moved ahead, now leading the little group. They walked a little way beyond the door, and then Narcissa stopped.

"This is far enough outside the wards." She turned to the guard. "Take our sacrifice to the site, I will be there momentarily; I have few things to do before we start."

The guard dragged the girl to him and, roughly holding on to her, began to twirl the two in place and Disapparated.

With a feeling of disorientation that she always hated, Alisha and her guard appeared with a solid pop in a grove of trees behind some tall bushes. Before she could even get her bearings, he had let go of her and his hands were replaced by ones she knew – but she still shied away at first as her father's hands gathered her in close to him for a solid hug. He held on to her until she realised she was safe and that her Da had rescued her.

With the comforting homey smells of her Da's clothes filling her nostrils, Alisha let herself go with relief. Severus held her as she sobbed silently into his robes, rubbing her back consolingly and dropping light kisses on top of her head while murmuring quietly to her. Eventually she wound down and was able to look at her father.

"Where are we?" she whispered. She looked around for the first time at the place her guard had brought her, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands and sniffing back the congestion in her nose until Severus handed her a black handkerchief. She smiled her thanks up at him as she made good use of it. When she shivered involuntarily in the cold, he removed his cloak and slung it around her shoulders.

"We're not far from where Narcissa is planning her ritual for tonight – except we are turning the tables on her." This answer came from Professor Potter. She noticed a wolf sitting at his feet and realised with a start it was her Uncle Remus. His tongue was lolling out in a wolfish grin and he walked over to get his ruff scratched and a kiss from his god-daughter placed on the top of his silver-maned head. He licked her face in greeting and love, then walked back over to stand guard next to Harry. She noticed many other Aurors were in the copse as well and looked back at her father for an explanation.

"Your guard, Derek Constantine, came to us last night letting us know how we could rescue you. He specifically switched guard duty tonight so that he would be your escort. Narcissa was stupid enough not to direct the Apparation herself – we were counting on that, actually, as she has never been able to direct a side-along Apparation." He sneered at what he obviously thought of the woman's magical abilities. "We can't stay here long, Alisha. I have a Portkey that will take you and Derek to your Grandmother's office. Stay there until we return." He handed an old handbag to his daughter and, with a quick kiss to her forehead, walked over to where Professor Potter was standing. The guard – no, Derek - came over and placing his hand on the strap, muttered a spell to activate the Portkey, and she was whirling away once again.

The group of Aurors, Snape and the werewolf made their way silently out of the copse, after disillusioning themselves, and went to surround the group of Death Eaters that had gathered in the meadow nearby. Silently, the group set up containment spells around the clearing so that none would get away once the actual raid started. The chant had started, and the twenty participants were all in position. As the moon rose to the peak of its arc, Narcissa Apparated into the centre of the group and, before she could register the fact that her sacrifice for tonight's endeavours was not present, the hidden group had struck.

Her insane screams shattered the night as ropes appeared around her and her wand was _Expelliarmus_-ed. The howl of a werewolf baying at the full moon drowned out her insane screams.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – Home Again

Alisha and Derek arrived in McGonagall's office a wee bit disoriented again, travelling so quickly after the Apparition to the copse; but they quickly regained their composure and after depositing the Portkey on the head's desk, sat in the hard chairs that faced it.

Alisha looked frankly at her rescuer. She remembered him from his time at school; a typical Slytherin, although a bit quiet, and he had been a pretty average player on their Quidditch team. She remembered how disappointed her father had been when his talk with Derek had not gone well last spring; she knew he had been hoping that Derek would not follow his family into service to the dark factions of their world.

"Thank you," she said in a soft voice, all of a sudden shy.

"You're welcome…" But before he could say anything more, they heard someone running up the steps outside the main door, and it was flung open to reveal the headmistress and Esme. With a short cry, Alisha had flung herself into her mother's arms, and a fresh round of sobbing on both their parts filled the room. Derek and the headmistress both looked away to give them some privacy, although Minerva used her handkerchief on her eyes. Esme eventually held Alisha out at arms length, taking a good look at her daughter.

"Derek said you had broken bones and bruises…"

"It's alright, Mum, Narcissa gave me some of Da's old potions and they fixed me up. She didn't want a damaged sacrifice," she ground out, in a fair imitation of her father's tone of voice when peeved.

"I'm still going to insist on a visit to the infirmary." She gathered her eldest back to her and looked over the child to the young man standing politely nearby. She held out one hand to him still keeping Alisha tucked under her other arm. "Thank you, Mr Constantine, you cannot know how much I, and my family, appreciate your help."

He took the proffered hand and returned the handclasp. "You're welcome, Professor. I thought we would have to wait until we got to the site, but she insisted I take Alisha on ahead, and I was able to redirect the Apparating." He shuffled his feet a bit as he looked down at the worn oriental carpet in front of the desk. "I have a lot to make up for since I joined the Death Eaters. I should have listened to your husband in the first place, Professor – but they promised me so much!"

"I know, Mr Constantine. And you are correct – you should have listened to him. He was trying to save you from making the same mistakes he made over thirty years ago. Surely you know his history?"

Derek nodded his head. "He would tell us at the beginning of each term. I'm such a fool."

Alisha left the comfort of her mother's arms and walked over to the Slytherin standing nearby. She placed a hand respectfully on his arm, then leaned in and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "At least you saw your mistake, Derek, and you were willing to take a chance on what you knew to be right. I owe you a debt now."

He shook his head quite hard as he placed a hand over hers. "No, I'm indebted to you. If I hadn't seen you and known who you were… well, let's just say that it bludgered home for me the reality and depravity of it all. I really am the one who is in debt."

Alisha smiled up at the young man. "How about we call it even then?" He nodded 'yes' and she turned to her mother. "Can we go see Madam Pomfrey now, mum? I'm tired."

"Of course. Auntie, you'll stay here with Mr Constantine until Severus and the others get back?"

"Surely. They shouldn't be too long – it's past midnight now." She looked sternly over at Derek who had taken his seat again. "I believe Mr Constantine and I have some things to discuss." He looked startled at that pronouncement at first but then sighed resignedly. Esme smiled down at him in a motherly fashion and then bustled her daughter out the door and down the stairs towards the infirmary.

Esme led her daughter to sit on an empty bed while she went to awaken the Medi-witch. Alisha looked around at the stark white ward with its high windows and old-fashioned iron hospital beds. She hadn't had to spend too much time here, except for when Emrys had pulled his prank over autumn term, but she'd heard that Professor Potter practically had a bed named for him here. She wondered which one it was? She looked around – which one looked the most comfortable? She really did not want to dwell on the past few days just yet, and this seemed a better occupation for her mind.

A clearing of the throat alerted her to someone's presence, and she looked up to find herself looking into Professor Potter's face. "Trying to determine which bed is better?" he asked with a grin on his face, leaning against a nearby column.

"Ermmm… actually I was wondering which one had been your favourite?" she asked timidly.

Harry burst out laughing. "Oh, that's easy – that one over there." He pointed to a bed near some windows, before moving nearer to her bed. "That one has the best view of the Quidditch pitch." She joined in with his laughter.

She looked over at the Defence teacher. "Is Da back, too?" she asked guardedly. She watched as he shook his head.

"No, I needed to get Remus back before he transformed. I promised your father I would check up on you. So, how are you feeling?" he asked as he took a seat next to her on the bed.

She thought about this a moment before replying. "Physically? All right, I guess. Mum is getting Pomfrey to come and look at me – but Narcissa healed me before the ceremony. Mentally? Still very confused, and scared. That will probably last awhile," she said with a rueful tone to her voice. She looked up at her Professor. "I know what she needed me for – she explained it when I was in the dungeon. But why me? That's what I don't understand; why was I so special?"

"Well, from what we understand, it was mostly revenge against your father. Madam Malfoy blames him for all that went wrong in her life. She should really blame me – but I wasn't the traitor that turned on Voldemort; just the one who killed him forever. But Severus… he was considered one of Voldemort's closest supporters, at least amongst the Death Eaters." He smiled a bit wryly as he looked at the girl sitting next to him. "There were many times, as a student, that I was convinced he was a true supporter of Voldemort right up until he killed Nagini in the final fight. Even then it took your mother to point several things out to me. In any case, Narcissa blames Severus for her son's eventual demise and the imprisoning of her husband."

"So," she ventured, "she wanted to make my father suffer as she had?"

"Got it in one," he approved. "Ten points to Ravenclaw."

"Did you hate my father, Professor?" she asked quietly.

Harry thought about that one for a minute. "Sometimes, yes, I did. When I was just starting here as a student, I was absolutely convinced he hated me! Well, that didn't make for a congenial atmosphere between the two of us, as I had absolutely no idea what I had done to deserve that hate! It was years before I ever saw him as something other than the 'greasy git of the dungeons'. I do respect him now though, and I think he respects me."

She smiled at the moniker. "The students still refer to him as 'the dungeons' bat'."

He looked up from her smile and saw Esme and Poppy heading over to the bed. The Medi-witch had apparently been asleep as her hair was still down, but plaited, and she wore a dressing gown over her nightdress. "Here's your mum." He stood up from the bed as Esme approached and gave her and Pomfrey each a quick hug. He and Esme stood at the end of the bed as the Medi-witch cast some diagnostic spells on Alisha.

"Well, other than some malnutrition, she appears to be well." She _Accio_-ed a potion bottle from her stores and, pouring out a cupful, handed it to Alisha. "Just a nutritive potion, dearie. Drink it up now, that's a good girl," she said approvingly. "Well, I think she can go back home, Esmerelda. Tell Severus she should take some _Dreamless Sleep_ Potion tonight. She can take tomorrow off of classes, but should be well enough to resume the next day, as long as she gets some sleep and some good food into her system between now and then." She looked over at Harry, giving him the once over. "Am I to assume you were in another fight, Mr Potter? Do I need to check you over as well?"

Harry immediately put his hands up in defence, backing away from her. "No, Poppy, just dirt. No injuries, I promise!" Esme and Alisha tried in vain to hide their mirth at the sight of the Defence Professor cowed by the stern Medi-witch. Madam Pomfrey just sniffed in an injured tone and stalked back across the ward to her office. Harry joined in the sniggering with the two ladies.

"Well, let me escort you lovely ladies home, shall I?" He offered his hand to Alisha as she wriggled off of the bed and the three of them made a hasty retreat out of the infirmary before Pomfrey decided to detain them any further.

"Oh, welcome back, Miss Snape!" Gustav said after they woke up the door portrait. "I trust you are alright?"

"Thank you, Gustav, I am," she agreed. "And I am glad to be home!" She entered as the door swung open.

The twins and Rebecca were all camped out in sitting room. It was obvious they had fallen asleep while waiting for the results of the night, schoolbooks and bottles of ink along with homework scrolls were scattered across the low table in front of the divan.

Tonks was sitting in a comfy chair next to a playpen where A.J. and Benjamin were sleeping, bums up in the air and thumbs in their mouths. Tonks gave a huge sigh of relief at seeing her goddaughter walk in the room, and her hair took on a bright blue hue in her happiness. The sound woke up Brigida who looked at her godmother and then, following her gaze, gave a squeal of delight as she saw her older sister. Before Alisha could take another step she was encircled by hugs from her siblings and was eventually led to the divan where Rebecca climbed into her lap to better hug her and Brigida cuddled on one side with Emrys on the other. Esme called down to the kitchens for some tea and biscuits and the food arrived just as Severus came in the rooms, followed by a now-human Remus, and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

They all trooped into the dining room to eat and discuss the previous night's happenings. Esme presided over the teapot as Tonks passed out plates of biscuits. When everyone was taken care of, Esme looked down the table at her husband.

"Well, are we going to hear what happened?" she asked a bit testily.

He started a bit at her tone but gave a report, chalking up her testiness to stress. "Everyone who was there was captured and are in cells at the Ministry. Narcissa has clearly gone insane, but will soon be occupying a cell in Azkaban." A satisfied grin graced his face as he thought about that. "Aurors found the rock dungeons where they kept you, Alisha." He looked at his daughter sitting near him at the table and reached out to give her hand a squeeze, then turned to address the rest of the table again. "They are also giving the Manor a full going over. It is going straight into Ministry hands and will most likely be sold at auction later this year."

Alisha looked over at her father. "What about Derek?" She was feeling a bit sympathetic for the former Death Eater.

"Mr Constantine is being questioned by the Aurors as we speak. He has a lot to think about, but he will not be going to Azkaban; he is too valuable to us now."

"Valuable?" she looked questioningly at him.

"Yes, he may be able to infiltrate the rest of the Death Eaters, turning spy. As no one got away, the truth as to who betrayed Narcissa will not be known – that information is being O_bliviated_ from them."

She nodded her understanding and sat quietly listening to the adults talk further around her but not really taking it in. She must have closed her eyes for a moment, because the next thing she knew her father was gently shaking her awake to lead her down the hall to her room. Rebecca and Bree followed after to head to their own room, and she vaguely heard her mother seeing the Lupins, Professor Potter and Shacklebolt to the door. She tumbled into bed, curling up around Teddy, and was asleep again before her father could even help her change into a nightdress. He just chuckled, spelled the covers over her and _nox_-ed the lights, meeting Esme in the hallway where she was carrying A.J. down to the room he now shared with Emrys. Before shutting the door, he set a monitoring spell on the room to let him know if she awoke in the night.

"Thank you, dear, for bringing her home."

"It wasn't me, Esme, Derek was the one who made the rescue possible."

"I know. Is he going to turn spy?" she asked quietly, as she lay the baby in his cot and covered up her older son with a flick of her wand.

"I think he will. He feels guilty enough to want to make amends."

"Guilty? Whatever for? He certainly wasn't in on the beatings – he told us that!"

"For not being able to _save_ her from the beatings, or to rescue her sooner," he explained.

"Are you sure he was a Slytherin? That sounds like a Gryffindor attitude to me," she asked shrewdly.

"I'll share a secret with you; the hat wanted him in Gryffindor, but he knew his family would disown him if he ended up there, so he convinced it to place him in Slytherin instead." He chuckled at the incredulous look on his wife's face. "Oh, yes, it is very rare that a child is able to influence the hat, but that is what happened. I found out last night during our little questioning of Mr Constantine." He ushered her into their room, closing the door on the rest of the night.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Back to Normal

Wednesday morning Alisha joined her housemates back at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast. Her four dorm mates were quite solicitous towards her, and the students present gave her an ovation as she sat down. Rena came and sat next to her giving her a bit of a nudge to get her attention.

"I'm sorry, Alisha, we shouldn't have let you go down that alley." She handed her friend the platter of eggs.

"It's alright, Rena. From what they tell me – they would've got me one way or another. At least this way none of you were injured as well," she reassured her friend.

"Are you okay then?" her friend asked. No matter what anyone said to her, she still felt guilty about not acting sooner on her misgivings.

"I'm fine. I'll probably be a bit shy of dark alleys for a bit." She smiled weakly over at Rena in commiseration. She _was_ feeling very well, considering her ordeal, as she had slept most of the previous day after drinking down numerous healing potions from her father, as well as a healthy dose of _Dreamless Sleep_ for the last two nights.

"I can understand that. You haven't missed much in classes, but I'll give you my notes tonight to copy," she offered her friend.

"Thanks. Hey, I heard how you led Da and everyone to the alley; that was really brave of you!" She gave her friend's arm a squeeze then grabbed some toast from a rack floating along the table.

"I was scared to death! And then they wouldn't tell us anything until yesterday morning when the headmistress announced you had been rescued." Rena took a drink from her cup of pumpkin juice. "Your sister was going spare with worry. She was the one who noticed you were missing first. You hadn't shown up with her Frogs!" Alisha laughed outright at this bit of news and glanced down the table at her sister who was listening in to the conversation.

"Well, then I owe her a whole bunch of them!" Bree coloured up at that and turned to listen to something someone was saying next to her to cover up her embarrassment at the praise from her older sister.

Alisha did not see Derek Constantine again until the following week when she was heading up to the head's office to have tea with her great aunt. She was surprised when she walked up to the gargoyle-guarded entrance to discover it already open and Derek exiting from the opening. He looked startled to see her, but a smile soon lit up his face at her presence.

"Alisha! How are you? Have you recovered?"

"I'm fine, Derek, thank you. I was just on my way for tea with Grandma – what are you doing here?"

He cast glance around to make sure the corridor was clear. "I'm working for Professor McGonagall now as a spy among the dark contingent," he told her in a low voice. "I was just making my first report. Your father is still up there with her; he was giving me some insight as well."

"Ah, learning from the master," she quipped, but with a smile. Derek shared the half-amused look with her.

"Exactly. The others still do not know that I've defected, or that it was me who rescued you – so I am perfectly placed to report on their activities."

She started moving toward the spiral staircase. "I understand. I better get up there, Grandma gets testy when we are late to tea." She laid her hand on his arm. "Thank you for your help, Derek, I really don't want to imagine what would have happened if you hadn't rescued me!"

He laid his hand over hers, and she felt a little thrill at his touch. "Trust me when I tell you that the reality would have been _worse_ than you could imagine." He gave her hand a slight squeeze before letting it go. "I'm glad you've come through this as well as you have."

"Oh, I still have nightmares – but Da's potions help. I talk to him a lot about it and that has helped as well."

Derek nodded his understanding. "Good. I better let you get upstairs. Hopefully I'll see you again sometime soon?" he asked her with a hopeful lilt to his voice.

She smiled at him as she placed her foot on the first step, letting the stairs draw her upward. "I'd like that!" she called back to him before she disappeared behind a turn in the stairway.

* * *

Severus walked a bit wearily along the corridors to the staff room. He had just gotten through with taking his entire fifth-year Ravenclaw/Slytherin class to Madam Pomfrey after someone had tossed a dungbomb into a cauldron of boils potion. He did not have enough antidote on hand in the classroom and so had marched the entire class up to the infirmary. They would all be spending Friday night in detention, as the culprit would not come forth.

He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He knew why the dungbomb had been thrown; end of term was coming up, along with the Quidditch finals, and the natives were getting restless. Add to that the OWL tests in two weeks and it was a disaster in the making; a disaster that happened every year. He sighed to himself, thinking on past year's pranks. He thought his favourite had been the Weasley twin's fifth-year class when they had perfected the Canary Creams and had managed to turn every Slytherin in the room into big, fat yellow canaries. It had taken every ounce of his years of practiced stoicism to keep from rolling on the floor, laughing. Afterwards, during their detention was when he had broached the subject of helping them in their research – as long as they kept his assistance absolutely secret!

He hurried his pace, as he wanted to make the sanctuary of the staff room before the next bell rang. When the gargoyles at the entrance opened their mouths to make a snippy comment, he gave them such a black look that they shut them closed with an audible click.

He opened the door just as the bell rang and was relieved to find the room almost deserted. He gave a polite nod to those staff members who were on their way out for their next classes and went to sit in a comfortable chair before the fireplace, picking up a discarded edition of that day's _Prophet._ Taking one of his favourite red-ink quills out of his robe pocket, he flipped the paper open to the daily crossword, which luckily no one else had started, and began to fill in the answers.

He was about halfway through the puzzle when the door opened to admit Harry. They nodded politely to each other, and Severus returned to his puzzle while Harry fixed himself a cup of tea and sat down nearby with a large tome on advanced defence techniques.

Severus worked his way down to the bottom of the puzzle and was stuck on the corner box. One word was keeping him from completion and he had no idea as to what it was.

_A Muggle term for cold-food storage._ Just six little letters were keeping him from victory and nothing was coming to mind. He looked over at Potter; he was Muggle-raised - it was worth a shot.

He cleared his throat to gain Harry's attention. Harry peered up at him with a questioning look. "Potter, what is a six-letter Muggle word for cold-food storage?"

Harry looked taken aback for a second, then asked, "Are there any letters you have so far?"

Severus nodded. "Fourth letter is a 'd' and sixth is an 'e'," he supplied.

Harry thought a minute more, then replied, "Fridge." He looked over at the man sitting next to him and noted the puzzled look on his face. "It's short for 'Fridgedaire', hence 'fridge'," he explained. At Severus' still puzzled look he explained further. "It was the leading brand of refrigerators. You're a half-blood; didn't your parents' house have a refrigerator?"

"Yes, but my father always referred to it as an ice-box." Severus raised an eyebrow as he said this, but added the word and completed the puzzle. "Thank you, Harry."

Harry looked up startled from his book. "I think that is the first time you have ever used my first name!"

Severus appeared taken aback for a moment, but recovered quickly. "Well, after your assistance this winter with Alisha, I guess I've been seeing you in a new light," he conceded.

Harry quirked his mouth in a half-smile. "Not the spoiled brat you always thought I was?"

"No, I suppose not." Severus turned back to the paper and flipped it over to the front page.

"I never was, you know," Harry said after a moment's silence.

"Never what?" he said without looking up.

"Spoiled. I thought you had figured that out after the Occlumency lessons. But you never seemed to comment on that. After that I just assumed you hated me for hate's sake." Harry said this dispassionately as he had long ago let go of the hate he had felt for the man next to him during his school years; but it was good to clear the air – they had never done that. After the war, and Harry's apology to Snape, they had silently agreed to be polite to each other as they worked together at various times over the last dozen years and had never spoken of the animosity they had each felt for the other during Harry's school years.

Severus looked up from the paper to stare at the green eyes across from him. "I thought those were random incidents," he said curiously but without apology in his voice. Harry shook his head.

"No, that was normal. Well, normal for me. The Dursleys hated me." He gave a slight snort. "Probably more than you or Malfoy. They knew what I was, you see, but never told me. I slept in a cupboard until my Hogwarts letters started coming. I was their house-elf whilst I lived there, did all the chores inside and out as well as most of the cooking. And if I did anything out of the ordinary, I was locked away in my cupboard or later in my room and starved; for weeks at a time sometimes." He stared off into the distance in remembrance. "As much as I respected Dumbledore, he messed up with that. He never checked on me the whole time I was growing up there. He just dumped me on the doorstep and expected my aunt and uncle to raise me as their own. I didn't even know what I was until Hagrid was sent with my final letter." He looked back over at his former professor, noting the shocked look on the man's face. Well, shocked for Snape; anyone else would have seen a raised eyebrow and a pursing of the lips. "But I have to hand it to you, Severus, you always insisted that I be treated like any other student. No special considerations for the Boy-Who-Lived. I may not have appreciated it then, but I do now. You were always watching out for me back then, weren't you?"

"As much as I could without tipping my hand," he acknowledged quietly. "I owed it to your mother." He laid his paper down and looked thoughtfully at Harry, picking his next words carefully. He wanted to impart this information correctly; Potter needed to hear it, and Severus needed to say it to him. "Despite what you saw in the Pensieve, Potter, your mother and I were good friends through most of the time we were in classes. It wasn't well known, but there you are. I truly regretted that it was my information that led to the Dark Lord singling your family out. When I realised what he was doing was when I went to Albus."

He took a deep breath before continuing. "You have to realise, Harry, that Trelawney made that prophecy in December of seventy-nine. It prophesied for a boy born in July of the following year. The Dark Lord had to wait until you and Neville were born to make his choice. By the time you were two months old he had pretty much decided it was you who was the more potential threat. When I saw that, it was as if I was waking up from a bad dream. I hadn't been under Imperius, I had made the choice willingly in school to join with him; but to target a baby just because of a prophecy that a charlatan had made?" He shook his head as he remembered his incredulity at the Dark Lord's intentions. "It was madness. I went to Albus and became a spy."

He studied the younger man next to him. Harry's face could not be read as to what he was feeling while listening to Severus. That was a change from when he was younger; then, his face had been an open book that Severus could easily read. "There were other reasons why I became dissatisfied with the organisation, but that was the final straw," he continued. "I am aware that you know someone tipped Albus off as to when the raid was going to happen so that he could get your family under the Fidelius charm?" Harry murmured a 'yes'. "What he never told you was that it was I who was the informant."

Harry looked up startled. "You? You were the informant? He never told me! One of these days I'm going to have it out with that portrait!" he grumbled.

"Join the crowd; but don't think too harshly of him, Harry. He couldn't tell you, it would have jeopardised my position within the Death Eater ranks." He let his face soften a little as he looked at Harry. "You had to believe I was wholly with the Dark Lord. That was the whole point of why I had to put Dumbledore out of his misery that night."

"I suppose he couldn't tell me. Not then with Voldemort in my mind at odd times." He stared unseeing at the page in front of him, eventually gave up and closed the book with a resounding thud. "Were you aware at the time that Pettigrew was the traitor?" he asked one of the questions that had been burning in his brain for years and had never had a chance to ask.

"No. The traitor always kept his mask on and hood up when attending meetings, stayed in the back and left immediately afterwards. We never knew who it was, just that there was one," he said shaking his head. "I have a question for you. I heard the rumour, years ago, that you were almost sorted into Slytherin. Fact?"

Harry grinned. "You mean Dumbledore never told you? Yeah, the hat wanted me to go to Slytherin, but I insisted on anywhere BUT Slytherin, so it placed me in Gryffindor. I do still have a Slytherin side to me," he joked.

"So I've seen over the years. You know, if you had been placed there I would have been in a better position to understand your pitiful raising by the Muggles and help you. As it was, I was inclined to see you as the spoiled golden boy of the wizarding world." He let his lips curl up in a half-smile to soften his words. "You do realise, Potter, that part of the animosity I showed you was calculated to keep my appearance as a Death Eater intact?" He folded his paper and placed it on the arm of the chair. "I hope that you and I have managed to move past all that?"

"After working with you these past months and before, on the projects for the Ministry, I have to honestly say that I no longer hate or dislike you," he acknowledged. "In fact, I've respected you for quite some time now but was unsure as to how you felt about me." Harry let a boyish grin light up his face. "Shall we call a cessation to all hostilities and continue on as respected colleagues?" He held his hand out to the Potions Master. Severus took it and noted the strong, firm shake that Harry gave him.

"I think I would like that, Harry." The bell rang for the change of class, and the men stood up to go their separate ways. "You and your family should join ours for dinner some night before the end of term. I know Esmerelda would love to host one, and we'll have Remus and the Lupins as well," Severus offered as they walked towards the staff door.

"Sounds good, have Esme contact Ginny."

"I will. Have a pleasant day, Potter." It would take him awhile to refer to Harry by his first name more often. He still often referred to Remus as Lupin; it just depended on the situation.

"You too, Severus." And they parted at the door – Severus for the dungeons and Harry for the Quidditch pitch.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 - Epilogue

"Jamie! Hey, Jamie Potter!" Jamie turned around at the sound of her name coming from below her, and nearly cursed whoever had called her. The second she had turned around, the stairway had decided to move. She tightened her grip on the banister to keep her balance as the stairs groaned and shifted their position. She looked daggers down at Emrys Snape as he climbed nimbly up the unstable stairs, not even placing a hand on the railing.

"Emrys! Now we're going to be late for Defence…" she complained.

He huffed up to stand by her. "I'm sorry, but my mum forgot to tell you in class that you are invited to our place tonight. Your family, Roger's and mine - all together for dinner tonight." He gave her a little push along the new corridor that the stairs had moved them to as her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Really? Well, that should be nice. Alright, then, thanks for letting me know."

"No problem, let's run or we'll be late for Professor Lupin!" The two Gryffindors took off running down the corridor skidding into their seats just as the bell sounded.

* * *

Severus was relaxing in the parlour watching A.J. cruise around the furniture. The ten-month old had started this precursor to walking the previous week and was revelling in the freedom it afforded him. Every now and then he would manoeuvre over to his father's legs, request with his arms up in the air that he wanted to be picked up, hug his dad for a few moments and then wriggle down off the warm lap and start around the room again. Severus figured they had maybe one or two days left before the boy started walking unaided; he was barely touching the furniture as it was, now.

"Sir, the Potters are at the door, shall I let them in?" Gustav's inside portrait enquired.

Severus turned at the sound. "Yes, Gustav, they are expected tonight, as are the Lupins." He got up to head toward the door sparing a glance toward his son to mark where the child was.

"Very good, sir." The door unlatched with a soft 'snick' and Severus stood just inside to welcome his guests.

"Harry, Ginny, thank you for joining us this evening… Miss Potter, I believe you will find my children down the hall in the girls' room." Jamie nodded her head in reply and herded her younger siblings down the hall to Brigida's bedroom where she could hear the radio blaring, and laughter as small explosions indicated an Exploding Snap game was underway. A few moments later the Lupin boys had joined them. Alisha eventually left the room as the noise level increased and her tolerance level decreased.

After her ordeal at the hands of Narcissa, she periodically found herself in fits of depression where she just wanted to be alone and hide away where no one could reach her. The adults seemed to think this was normal for someone who had gone through what she had at her age, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was not quite right with her anymore. She still had the dreams of being in the dungeon - broken, cold and unable to move. At other times she dreamt of the actual abuse and would wake up screaming at the remembered pain – but when fully awake, could never remember what the dreams had contained.

Those nights she would wander out of her dormitory and head for her parents' rooms where she could curl up on her bed with her bear and feel safe. Severus or Esme would inevitably find her there – parental ESP always in action – and sit by her side offering comfort, potions and love as needed.

Her favourite dreams were ones where a man held her in his strong arms and she felt safe and protected. Sometimes she felt that the arms belonged to her father, but increasingly she was feeling as if they sometimes belonged to someone else, and that perplexed her as she could not see the face to whom they belonged.

Tonight she didn't want to be alone, but she didn't want to be around noisy siblings either. She wandered down the hallway towards the parlour where she could hear the adults discussing the events of the day. A loud squeal alerted her just in time as her smallest brother launched himself to her from where he had been cruising at Professor Potter's knee, making his way to her in record time. He didn't notice he was walking unaided at all – but the adults did. Severus groaned as he realised this meant that his youngest was now within reach of everything! Potter and Remus laughed at his consternation.

"Iss, Iss!" came from around the corner of the divan as Benjy Lupin barrelled his way towards her as well. Both boys reached her at about the same time and she sat down on the rug, laughing, as the toddlers climbed all over her. Her depression vanished like a cloud of smoke as she rough-housed with the two boys. She congratulated A.J. on his accomplishment, and missed seeing her parents cast an appreciative glance in her direction, happy to see their eldest and youngest interacting together, and to see a smile on Alisha's face.

As Wizby announced that dinner was served, Gustav summoned Severus. "Sir, there is a Mr Constantine at the door…"

An eyebrow shot up but Severus nodded and went out into the hall casting _Muffliato_ as he went, ensuring no one would hear the conversation.

"Derek, to what do I owe this pleasure? You are making me miss a dinner-party." He stood in front of the young man in his imposing-teacher stance.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I thought you ought to know that what is left of the group is planning on meeting tonight at ten p.m. I tried to let Professor McGonagall know, but she wasn't in the tower, so I thought I would try here."

"How many?" Snape asked quickly, switching the imposing- teacher stance for one that was much more concerned about the information that was to follow.

"About fifty, sir. That's all that are left."

Severus thought a moment, and making a quick decision, cancelled the muffling spell and walked towards the door. "Very well, come inside and wait in my office." He led his former student into the flat and through the door on the left-hand wall that led to the joint office space for the two professors. "Sit there," he said sharply, pointing at a hard wooden chair that was positioned against the wall. "I'll be right back."

Severus headed back to the dining room where Esme took in his demeanour and deduced quickly that something was up.

"Severus?" she enquired.

"I'm sorry, Esmerelda, but Derek Constantine is here with some news. I need to borrow Minerva, Harry and Tonks for a few moments. Don't wait to eat, go on ahead. We'll be back as soon as we can." Esme nodded in resignation and continued to serve up the food as the requested adults excused themselves from the table and followed Snape back to the office.

Several moments later, Harry and Tonks returned to kiss their spouses goodbye and left the rooms almost at a run, both looking as if Christmas had come early, Tonks' hair flashing pink and purple in her excitement. Minerva and Severus were slower in their return to the table and when they did it was in the accompaniment of Derek Constantine. He took the seat that had been vacated by Harry, which put him conveniently next to Alisha. He smiled shyly at her as he placed his serviette in his lap and helped himself to the platter of meat that she passed to him. She coloured quickly as their hands met, which was not lost on her parents. They shared a quick look between them that clearly said 'We will discuss this later'.

* * *

"Severus, is there anything going on between those two?" Esme asked from her seat at the dressing table, as she ran her brush through her hair in preparation to plait it for the night.

"I don't think so, but she just turned fifteen and I think this may be her first major crush. He rescued her, there is bound to be some hero-worshipping attachment on her part." He thought a bit as he changed into a nightshirt. "I do think there may be some real attraction on his part towards her, though. I'll have a talk with him soon and see what his intentions are towards her. Should I warn him off, do you think?" He grinned a bit evilly at the thought.

"Just remind him that she is only fifteen and that this may only be a school-girl crush," she decided, shooting him a look that was a mixture of exasperation and humour as she noted the evil grin. "You really want to intimidate him, don't you?"

"Of course I do! It's my first chance at being the protective father of the datable daughter. I've been waiting for this for years!" He chuckled to himself as he headed to the bathroom to wash up for the evening.

When he returned, Esme was sitting up in bed reading a book. She smiled at him as he crawled in next to her. She closed the book on her finger to mark her spot and looked over at her spouse. She thought he was still just as handsome as the day they had met at the bookstore, albeit a bit greyer and with a few more lines, but yes, just as handsome. She leaned over to give him a quick peck, but he pulled her in for a more passionate embrace.

"Do you think the raid will work?" she asked him a while later.

"I think so. We'll hear in the morning. Derek seems to think this should be the remainder of the hardcore supporters here in the UK, so it should be very profitable. Harry and Tonks were nearly salivating at the thought of capturing that many Death Eaters." He chuckled at the remembered look on their faces when they heard the news.

"Good." She _nox_-ed the branch of candles on her bedside table after laying down her book, and cuddled contentedly in Severus' arms.

* * *

The next morning was the day of the leaving feast, and the news quickly spread through the four tables like wildfire as the owls delivered the morning mail and _Daily Prophet_s.

**Crackdown on Former Death Eaters** read the headline, followed by a large article with pictures taken as the prisoners were led into Ministry holding cells pending their trials.

"So this is why your Da was late for dinner last night!" Roger exclaimed to his best friend as they shovelled eggs and bacon into their mouths.

"Yeah, Derek was the guy who rescued my sister in February. I wondered why he had shown up last night. Did your mum say anything?"

"Nah, she never talks about that stuff at home. Besides she got home after I fell asleep. Where are you sleeping tonight?"

"Dorm. You?"

"Me too. Hey, as of tonight we're no longer firsties!" The two boys grinned at the prospect of no longer being at the bottom of the pecking order and hurried up to finish their breakfast. There were going to be several pick-up games of Quidditch at the pitch and they wanted to be there early. The house captains would be scouting for next years teams, and Emrys and Roger were going to put in an all-out effort today.

The boys smiled as Jamie joined them at the table, followed by Brigida, Nancy and Alisha.

Alisha looked over at the younger children as she served herself. "So, who's going out and playing Quidditch this morning?" She smiled as the expected hands of Emrys, Roger and Jamie shot into the air, but was amazed at seeing Brigida's join them.

"You're playing Quidditch?" she enquired of her sister, a bit incredulously. It was family legend as to how much Brigida and brooms did not get along with each other. But Alisha had not seen Bree during flying lessons with the Potters.

Brigida nodded her head, tossing back the two plaits that she had styled her hair in that morning. "I'm no longer afraid of flying, and I've been practising in class. Mrs Potter has been giving me pointers," she said defiantly. Emrys had seen his sister improve and felt that she wasn't a complete disaster on a broom anymore, so he readily agreed with her. "Sure, why not? Are you guys ready?" he asked the rest of the group.

Roger stuffed another piece of toast in his mouth as he jumped up from his spot on the bench, and Brigida gulped down the last of her pumpkin juice before joining the rest as they headed out the doors.

Somehow word got to Severus that Brigida was playing Quidditch on the pitch with all of the team captains watching. He hadn't seen her fly since the first lesson and was curious as to how she had obtained the courage to play a full-fledged game. With no lessons that day, he hurried down to the pitch followed closely by the rest of the available teachers and adults in the school. They reached the stands and found seats just as the first game started. The teams were made up of groups of house-mates ranging from first through sixth-years. The first quick game was between a group of Ravenclaws and one from Slytherin. Severus made a mental note of potential players for the following year as he watched the game ensue.

Three games later and Emrys' group was called to the pitch to play against a Ravenclaw group that included Brigida. Emrys and Roger were the Beaters for their team, and Brigida, amazingly enough, was Seeker for the Ravenclaws. Severus watched as his daughter flew lazy patterns in the sky, searching the arena for the elusive golden ball. She pulled a few feints to intimidate Jamie Potter, who was the Seeker for the Gryffindors.

Jamie had been flying since she was old enough to sit a broom, and her father had played pick-up games of Quidditch with her for years. Brigida had one term on the broom, but Severus noted with pride that she flew just as well as the Potter girl.

His breath caught in his throat as he watched Jamie dive for the pitch, Brigida hot on her tail. Brigida pushed her school broom to the limit, and she managed to pull up alongside Jamie, both of their hands reaching for the Snitch flying tantalizingly ahead of them. Just as Brigida's fingers scrabbled across one of the wings, the Snitch jogged to the left, directly into Jamie's hand. Brigida let her arm fall dejectedly to the handle of her broom as Jamie soared away triumphantly to join her team-mates as they celebrated their win. Brigida flew down to the ground and walked towards the broom shed to put her broom away.

Severus watched his daughter walking towards the shed and quickly excusing himself, made his way after her, catching up with her as she shut the door to the shed.

"I'm very proud of you, Bree," he said to her as he walked up to the castle with her, a fatherly arm around her shoulders.

"I didn't catch the Snitch," she grumbled. "And it was so close, Da!" She looked up at her father, a dejected look on her face. "I could feel it at the tips of my fingers!"

Severus gave her a quick squeeze. "I know. You did very well, otherwise. You were quite a match for Miss Potter, you know, and she's had her father teaching her for years!" he pointed out.

"You really think so?" asked Brigida as she looked up at her father.

"Yes I do. I can honestly say you were one of the best Seekers out there today," he assured her.

She brightened up at the praise and gave her father a quick hug before they ascended the stairs to the castle entrance.

"Now, go get showered and changed for the feast tonight. Is your trunk packed? Don't forget we're…"

"…heading to the cottage after the train leaves. I know Da! Yes, I'm almost packed!"

"Cheeky! Be off with you now!" he said, giving her bum a swat as she laughed on her way past him, heading to the Ravenclaw corridor.

* * *

"Well, another year gone by," Esme said as she sat next to Severus the next night in the parlour of the cottage. She handed him a glass of wine and curled her legs up beside her as she leaned into his one-armed embrace. The children were all in bed, sound asleep, after a busy day of moving back to the cottage for the summer, checking all their old haunts, and swimming to their hearts' content.

Wizby had tutted to herself at the amount of dust in the house upon arrival and had immediately started cleaning, humming little tunes in her contentment. A.J. had started climbing on his own that morning and was keeping his siblings and parents on the constant alert, as he was without any inborn fear of heights at all; in fact the higher, the better.

"Did you see Bree's face when the Ravenclaw Captain asked her to try out next term?" Severus asked his wife. "It was priceless!" He chuckled to himself in remembrance.

"I didn't make it to the games yesterday, did she do well?"

"Quite well! If the Snitch hadn't jogged into Potter's hand, Brigida would have caught it, I'm sure."

"Really?" She mulled this over as she sipped her wine. "Should we get her a broom? She's never asked for one."

"Let's wait and see. Emrys saved up for his – I think she should do the same, although she has almost half of the cost of a good broom in her account already."

"Perhaps a half and half deal?" his wife suggested.

He shrugged. "Perhaps." He noted her empty glass as he set his own on the table next to the divan. "Are you done? Ready for bed?" He plucked the glass out of her hand and set it next to his own.

She yawned at the suggestion, nodding her agreement. He helped her up and, taking her in his arms, gently kissed her, letting his fingers loosen the knot at the nape of her neck, causing her hair to tumble over his hands, falling to the floor in silver and auburn waves.

She leaned into his kiss, breath quickening as his hands roamed, first through her hair and then around her face, down her shoulder blades and into the small of her back, pressing her closer to him where she could feel his rising passion. Her own arms came up to snake around his neck, pulling his head closer to hers as she opened her mouth to his questing tongue, revelling in the familiar feel of him inside her, causing her own excitement to grow.

Severus gently laid her down on the soft rug in front of the fire, spelling off their clothes and proceeded to make slow, languorous love to the main woman in his life, marvelling once again – before he lost himself to the sensations – that he was lucky to have her.

Finis


End file.
